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NEPTUNE'S ISLE 



NEPTUNE'S 
ISLE 

AND OTHER PLAYS FOR 
CHILDREN 



BY 

JOHN JAY CHAPMAN 



NEW YORK 

MOFFAT, YARD & COMPANY 
191 1 






COPYRIGHT, igil, BY 
JOHN JAY CHAPMAN 



THE • PLIMPTON ■ PRESS • NORWOOD • MASS • U • S • A 



%\V* 



©CIA303496 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Neptune's Isle i 

A Family Quarrel, A Play for the Nursery. 71 

Wilfrid the Young, A Dragon-play for Boys 95 
Christmas Once More, A Sacred Cantata 

for Children 163 



NEPTUNE'S ISLE 
A PLAY FOR CHILDREN 



CHARACTERS 

King of Troezene 

Queen 

Leon, their son 

Bacchylides, a poet, tutor to Leon 

Tisias, a soothsayer 

Phormio, a priest of Neptune 

Aglaia, a young priestess 

Myrmo, a young satyr 

Glaucus, General-in-chief of Troezene 

Io, a cook 

Canchrax, a captain of Mitylene 

A Sea-captain and Sailors 

An Old Beggar 

Neptune 



NEPTUNE'S ISLE 



ACT I 

THE PALACE AT TROEZENE KING, QUEEN, 

LEON, AND BACCHYLIDES 

King. {To Leon.) 
Deliver all these letters to my friends, 
Thy hosts in the Ionian lands of Greece. 
That you will thrive I know: there is some gift 
That makes men love thee, in thy countenance, 
And they receive thee as a deity. 

Leon 
Perhaps because they know I am a prince. 

King 

Enough of that, — a bookish contemplation. 

Youth feeds upon imaginary facts. 

You'd be a closet Plato: you in ink 

Would drown the hope of a just-peeping mind. 

Leon 
I thought myself contented with Troezene, 
And with the daily brightness of the fields, — 
My books to sweeten statecraft, and my heart 
Bent on the bettering of all my folk. 
So thought I to live out a useful day 
Sunny and unambitious. But I know 
My thoughts are immature. 

3 



4 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

King 
Nay wise, — nay wise; 
But uninformed. It all is as you think, 
But oh so different, Leon ! 

Queen 

You do go 
Just for a season. 

Leon 
I submit. 

King 

Consider all this journey as a mirror. 
Accept it as a book, a thought, a picture. 
Take it as decoration if you will; 
For 'tis no more. But give it intellect. 

Leon 
I'll strive to see it so. 

King 

There's a brave lad. How now, Bacchyl- 
ides? Are your arrangements made? Can you 
leave with this youngster by noon? 

Bacchylides 
Your Majesty knows that tutors have light 
luggage, and poets never anything more than 
paper parcels. I have my two laurel crowns, 
packed in my traveling case, — one for every 
day and one for festivities. I cannot well do 
with less. A bottle of the best Egyptian ink 
and four reeds, plucked from the bed of the 
Ilissus at sundown. Your Arcadian poetry 
is well enough — when it is penned by 
Athenians. What more do you ask? Ah, 



NEPTUNE'S ISLE 5 

a skin of wine, — a skin or two, — ballast, 
your Majesty. 

King 

Ballast, no doubt. 

Bacchylides 

Leave the lad to me. He wants nothing but 
education, manners, ideas, proper clothing, car- 
riage, and a good heart to make him a pre- 
sentable young man. Leave him to me, your 
Majesties. I am Athenian: I am of the very 
dregs and fundament, — Heracles' grandson, 

a scholar. 

Queen 
In truth he has shown more liveliness since 
you came here, Bacchylides; but you must 
not overwork him. 

Bacchylides 
Time, madam, time, and a deprivation of 
ladies' society. These provincial palaces — 
begging your Majesties' pardon — are always 
full of unoccupied females, that do nothing 
but mend shirts and tear open hearts. They 
tear and they mend, tear and mend; and this, 
together with the out-at-elbows philosophers 
and retired wisemen who surround all experi- 
ence with a picket fence of sharp pointed talk — 

King 
You mean Tisias the sage. 

Queen 
A most excellent man. He comes from 
Mitylene, and is one of the best soothsayers 
of a private kind. 



6 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

Bacchylides 

Yes, I mean him. And I ask pardon; for I 
may not have a chance to speak before leaving. 
I mean Tisias, Tisias of Mitylene. I do not 
speak ill of any man, least of all of an educator. 
I say nothing against him. God forbid that 
I should criticize or impugn him! But of all 
mean, cowardly cheats — of all scuttling and 
skulking thieving persons — yes, I say persons 
— and I speak in all openness and charity — 
beware of him. I would not presume to utter 
a suspicion in your Majesties' presence; but 
I repeat — beware of him. He is a serpent. 
The word "tisis" means expiation in the Greek 
tongue — {Enter in haste Tisias, a nervous, 
emaciated man of fifty-five. Bacchylides per- 
ceives him.) The Greek tongue, — the Greek 
tongue is spoken in all the Ionian lands, 
and my young friend and I will thus be able 
to make ourselves understood at all the 
courts. 

Tisias 
{Paying no attention to Bacchylides.) 

Your Majesties, my examination of the en- 
trails shows that the journey may be under- 
taken with safety. I have set it all down in 
the cosmograph. The rabbits which I use for 
this thaumaturgy come from Thebes and are 
above suspicion. {Gives a paper.) 

Bacchylides 
Hast thou drawn all this forecast out of the 
bowels of a dead rabbit, Tisias? 



NEPTUNE'S ISLE 7 

King 
Peace, Bacchylides : it is his profession. 

Queen 
Let me see. The reading shows no danger 
that hangs above the prince? {Takes the paper 
and examines it.) It is better that these things 
should be examined in serious quietude. 

Tisias 

Much better, Madam. I have here certain 
indications — 

King 
Bacchylides, withdraw. 
Leon, I'll see thee on the water's edge 
And send my blessing with thee. 

{Exeunt Bacchylides and Leon. King turns to 
the Queen and Tisias.) 
The worst is come: he's dead in love with her. 
And she a priestess vowed to Neptune's temple, 
A lily vestal, — dedicated nun. 
And I, my kingdom on the raging shore 
Exposed to the exasperated flood, 
And open to the treacherous-smiling King 
Who claims me for his grandson. 
Neptune, Neptune! This was thy trap. 
Know, Tisias, my friend, 
This babe at first was cast up by the sea, — 
Thrown in the rolling pebbles of the shore 
By fawning hounds of Neptune; I stood near 
And as she op'd a round and turquoise eye 
Like some benefic jewel of the sea, 
Hard, confident, and yet confiding too, 
I wrapped the sea-mite in warm seaweed round 



8 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

And bore her to the palace, marveling. 
And as I walked I seemed to see some shore 
Like a live opal in a pearly sea, 
Clouded with shining vapors, - a green isle, - 
An island in transparent vapors set, 
And crowned with glassy green. The oracles 
Did with one tongue declare her Neptune's 
child 

Which he confides to me for bringing up. 
At which a costly temple did I raise — 
As much in fear, as worship, of the God 
And as a ward of the Eternal Gods 
(bull fifteen summers passing like a dream) 
bne lived within my kingdom. 

TlSIAS 

o ^i • r , . I have known 

Something of this, not all. And what per- 
suades you 
The prince's thought has found her? 

King 

He wanders in the fields, he dreads myly^' 
He eats too little, goes to bed too late, 
Gets up too early, chats in smoky huts 
And plays the god to peasants. But his air! 
} he ^enous and hypocritic mien 
With which, may heaven forgive me, he re- 
sponds 

When questioned on his studies. Leon's studies ! 
His bedroom is a snake's nest of old clothes, 
His desk a hospital for broken pens, 
Burnt candles, leather fobs, and bits of chalk 



NEPTUNE'S ISLE 9 

And, wrapping them, O Phoebus! half a verse. 
Original, inspired, — in the spelling; 
And in the substance, dead and drowned with 
love. 

(He produces it.) 

Queen 
You must not read the lines. I'll put them back. 

(Takes them.) 

King 

Tisias found them. 

Tisias 
But I did not read them. 
I went there searching for a Latin grammar. 

King 

A most unlikely place to find a book. 
But, Tisias, enough. Your zeal I know; 
And your professional accomplishments 
Shall find the public reason for this journey. 
Kings may have private reasons in their breast, 
Which through good augury are then expressed. 
See you provide the reason. 

(Exit Tisias.) 

King. (To Queen.) 
When he returns he must not find her here. 
These ragged schoolboy passions, once aflame, 
Will not be quenched except in wider fire. 
I would not for the wealth of all my state 
Corrupt the dedicated maidenhood 
Planted as by a heavenly miracle 
Upon my soil. She must be rapt away 
And grafted in the college for young nuns 



io NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

Ere his return: to Corinth shall she go. 
Send me the maid. 

Queen 
She is as innocent of ill-intent 
Or knowledge that his inward taper burns — 

King 

No doubt, no doubt. All sin is innocent: 
This is the cause. Go, send the maid to me. 

Queen 
But be not rough with her. 

King 

Rough with a lily, — 
Or reprehend a blossom on the brier! 
Go, and be patient. Not such toys as these 
Do break my sleep. 

(Exit Que en , enter Glaucus.) 
Now, Glaucus, thy gray eyes look melancholy. 
The scouts upon our northern coasts are keen. 
What see they? 

Glaucus 
My eyes see nothing ; but my scouting thoughts 
Have seen the downfall of a monarchy. 

King 

Nay, nay! Some shift must serve — 

Glaucus 

The gold is gone 
For which the Orchomenian mercenary 
Served you so well. Our soldiers mutiny, 
And our hereditary enemy, 
The bitter, black, and Mitylenian horde, 
Hang o'er our griefs, like vultures in the wind. 



NEPTUNE'S ISLE u 

For they by secret, unsuspected spies, 
Keep well informed of our most private woe; 
While all the inward crumble of our state, 
That comes from unthrift, hands us on to ruin. 
Money must save us. 

King 

Then impose a tax 
Glaucus 
Your Majesty doth jest. Our last relief 
Came from a free-will offering of the poor; 
For so our richest burghers must be called. 

King 
Indeed they are so. Those devoted souls 
Have sold their plate for us. 

Glaucus 

One plan remains — 
King 
I knew your enterprise would find one out. 
Of course a plan remains, a plain strong plan — 
A plan is all we need. Your thoughts, good 
Glaucus. 

Glaucus 
Your Majesty doth know that for some years 
All the iEgean flocks to Neptune's fane, 
Which from a little unobtrusive shrine 
Has grown into a rich and famous Temple 
Whose treasury is ever at flood tide, 
Whose tablets, pictures, statues, blocks of gold, 
And hammered armory of votive gift, 
Lend you the proudest name by which fame 

knows you, 
"The Poseidonian King." 



12 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

King 
Well, well, go on. Your plan — 

Glaucus 

Is that you seize this wealth to build your state, 
To pay the soldiers, fill the treasury, 
And set our fainting war upon its feet. 

King. l (Rising.) 
Not for an empire! Go, ignoble man, 
And get employment in some pirate isle 
Where theft and cunning make a chancellor 
And murder makes a king. I need you not: 
I live by Neptune's gift. Out of the waters 
My kingdom came, a new and sacred isle, 
To meet the prayers my shipwrecked ancestor 
Sent up to feeling Jove, — 
Out of the waters ! And this craggy rock 
May sink again and leave me in the sea 
Ere I will lift a hand to steal an acre. 

Glaucus 
You take but to preserve; the vulture town 
Of Mitylene swoops upon it else. 

King 
No more! I'll not a word of it! No more. 
Send me the little priestess. I intend 
To safeguard all that Deity doth send. 

(Exit Glaucus, enter Aglaia accompanied by 
Phormio, a large fat priest.) 
King. (To priest.) 
You may remain without. 

(Exit Phormio.) 
Aglaia, little daughter of the sea, 
Wilt thou not fade and perish on dry land, 



NEPTUNE'S ISLE 13 

Like those cloud-colored infants of the deep 
That turn to tears if we would handle them? 

Aglaia 

Your Majesty? 

King 
Art thou content? But what bears questioning? 
It must be done. Thy father is a god, 
And I his servant. Thou art dedicate. 
Something important hinges on thy life, 
Not yet divulged to us. Art thou content? 

Aglaia 
Ever I am content to light the tapers, 
And with great hazel boughs to sweep the cell; 
But who I am, or what, I do not know. 
Someone has whispered that I am your daughter 
Whom, for I know not why, you must disown. 

King 
Someone's a fool! No, no, Aglaia, no! 
I found thee in the sea. 

Aglaia 
Ah, that is good! 

King 
It was the close of a long afternoon, 
And o'er the margin shallows and bright pools 
The mist-born star of evening drank the wave. 
I to the outer shelvings of the ebb 
Had wandered like a web-foot animal 
Lapping the scene. And thou cam'st rolling in — 
A bundle of child's clothing, — nay, a child. 

Aglaia 
Ah, that was good. 



i 4 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

King 
I would have kept thee, but the god forbade. 

Agalia 
Believe me, I do love thee. 

King 

I was told 
To hide thee from the ruffle of the world, 
Nor take the gift for mine! I guard it so. 

Aglaia 
Believe me, I do love thee. 

King 

Gentle Aglaia, 
If thou be Neptune's daughter, as 'tis said, 
He will protect thee. But my duty's clear. 
Our temple is a kind of market-place, 
Crowded with worship, littered and defiled 
With every Mediterranean mariner, 
Tramp-king, and roving prophet. You must go, 
Till your probationary year be past, 
And dwell within the school for priestesses 
At Corinth; where the caverns of the shore 
Resound with faint seolian harmonies 
Unheard by men, and where the undulous wave 
Rises and falls forever. 
And nothing but the blink of holy nuns 
Receives the rippling half-light upward shot 
From Neptune's pavement. There the god may 

come, 
But else, no spirit. 

Aglaia 
No spirit else? 



NEPTUNE'S ISLE 15 

King 

It cannot be forever — that I feel — 

Yet must be now. I grudge the god his child. 

You cannot help but know it. 

Aglaia 

I will go. 
But, sir — 

King 

Nay speak. (She kneels.) 

Aglaia 
For you 'tis plain. You have your oracle. 

King 

Thine shall be given thee. 

(Voices without; she rises. Enter Prince 
Leon and Bacchylides with their luggage, 
also a sea-captain and mariners. Enter 
from the other side Queen, Tisias, Glaucus, 
and Phormio.) 

Bacchylides 
The winds are favorable and our ship 
Is dancing at her cable. This young lad 
Bids old and young adieu. 

King 

It's but a step to see you to the beach. 

(He takes Bacchylides by the elbow. In case 
scenery is used, a slip curtain goes up and 
shows all on the beach, and a ship at anchor 
with sails up. If there is no scenery these 
things must be imagined.) 



16 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

King 
Friends, we'll attend the prince. A tidy vessel 
And colored with exulting fantasy. 
I love a lively-painted, jolly bark, 
And sails that make a picture of the sea. 
With what a curt'sy and a beckoning motion 
The hussy rides! Leon, my blessings take; 
Come soon again. 

{Leon kneels solemnly, and tableau.) 
Queen. {To Bacchylides.) 
Have you his thickest tunic in the bale? 
They say the winds at Tyre are very shrewd. 

Bacchylides 
I have provided. 

{Enter an old beggar in evident haste and awe. 
All turn towards him, without, however, 
breaking the tableau.) 

Old Beggar 

Watching the dim and solitary sea, 

I saw great Neptune lift his even brow 

And look serenely through the plunging wave. 

Unstained forever hung his heavy locks, 

His eye as brilliant as the emerald, 

But motionless, — as if its thought controlled 

The bright, smooth-flashing coursers of the deep 

That drew him onward. 

{Curtain.) 



ACT II 

SCENE I AN ISLAND 

(Enter, as from a shipwreck, Tisias and Phor- 
mio, carrying a chest.) 

Tisias. (With a chart in his hand.) 
This island is not on Ptolemy's map. 

Tisias 
Nor these fogs neither. Of what good is a 
chart unless the fogs are set down plainly? 

Phormio 
It is certain that we ran for three days 
straight before a fair southwest wind, passing 
Crete, Cyprus, Rhodes, Skyros, Naxos; being, 
as the captain told us, somewhat aided by the 
Phocaean current. 

Phormio 
That was before the rudder broke. 

Tisias 
Yes; the storm may have put us out a little. 

Phormio 
There were four days when the wind was 
black and the sun did not rise, or seem to. 

Tisias 

That's the point. Now in what direction 
was the wind during those four days? If we 
could find that out we should know all. 

17 



1 8 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

Phormio 
All that was after the captain fell overboard. 

Tisias 
He fell at the first clap of thunder, like a 
weathercock, into the foaming brine. 

Phormio 
God rest him. We are alive. 

Tisias 
We are ruined. 

Phormio 
Nonsense, nonsense. When we find out 
where we are, we can make up a story as to 
how we got here. 

Tisias 
And all this treasure belonging to the god 
Neptune — 

Phormio 
It is no more than our share, — a small 
trifle, a doorkeeper's fee for showing the rest to 
the Mitylenians. Trouble not yourself about 
that. It will pay our passage away from this 
island. We are at least here upon dry ground, 
from which we may defy Neptune and all his 
works. Where is the little priestess? 

Tisias 
Below in the cove picking blackberries; from 
which blackberries, if they are ripe, I intend to 
reckon the latitude of the isle. 

Phormio 
Tisias, you're a fool. 



NEPTUNE'S ISLE 19 

TlSIAS 

How? What do you say? 

Phormio 
When I asked the King to let you take 
passage on this ship to Corinth, it was to save 
your life, was it not? 

Tisias 
It was in order that I might not be at Troe- 
zene when the Mitylenians arrived and the 
loss of the treasure was discovered. 

Phormio 
Good: your life I saved. 

Tisias 
You saved my life! 

Phormio 
I am bearing you to safety. And, as the 
captain and the crew have been lost, and some- 
one must take command of the expedition — 

Tisias 

Yes, Phormio. 

Phormio 

There must be authority. And besides this, 
Tisias, your conversation fatigues me. There- 
fore, I make you my servant. 

Tisias 
Your servant! 

Phormio 
For the voyage only. On arrival I shall set 
you free. It is for the sake of discipline, and 
because I have a plan as to our life here. It 
has occurred to me as the best plan. 



20 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

TlSIAS 

Yes, Phormio. 

Phormio 
Say "yes sir." 

Tisias 
Yes sir. 

(Aside.) 
The punishment of perfidy begins. 
Here am I, wrecked upon a distant isle, 
In company with this most beastly slave 
Whose slave I am. I must pretend to yield, 
Till time shall put some dagger in my hand. 

Phormio 
Are any of those sacrificial rabbits left over? 

Tisias 
Drowned, all of them — 

Phormio 
Then make a fire in the rocks below and cook 
some of them. 

Tisias 
The sacred rabbits from which, with my 
instruments of divination, I draw the future! 

Phormio 
Fire! We must use the gods' saucepans. 
Send the girl to me! Wait! I'll have dinner at 
six, — and two servants to wait on me. 

(Exit Tisias.) 
Phormio 
(Calling.) 
Tisias ! 

(Re-enter Tisias.) 



NEPTUNE'S ISLE 21 

TlSIAS 

Yes sir, yes sir, — 

Phormio 
Convey this baggage to the sheltered bank 
Below the giant rock. You shall scoop out, 
Using your much-too-much of empty leisure, 
A proper chamber for my bride and me. 

Tisias 
Mercy, what bride? 

Phormio 
I am retiring from the priestly life — 
And long have contemplated matrimony. 

Tisias 
Priestess and priest. O heavens, the blasphemy! 
Man, man, — you will be blackened to a stone 
By instantaneous lightning! You'll be left 
A cinder. 

Phormio 
Tisias, no more I say! 
Or I will speak a language you can feel. 
Convey the vessels; and prepare the meal. 
{Exeunt Phormio and Tisias in opposite 
directions, Tisias dragging the chest. Enter 
Aglaia.) 

Aglaia 
This isle is Aphrodite's toilet box 
From which she chooses jewels for her hair. 
Begirt it is with wet enamel stones 
That gem the edge like lamps, yes light the 

deeps, — 
Those alabaster glooms of weedy green 
Where in the fanning waters are displayed 



22 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

The fringes of Poseidon's canopy. 
Envious of earth, he spreads his water-kingdom 
Up through delicious and perpetual swamps, 
And every salt seduction of sea flowers, 
Beach-pea and cranberry, with meadow-sweet, 
Sundew, and waxen tiny tea-berries, 
That lace the silken cushions of the marsh 
With leaves of jade. Such moist Elysium 
Of ribboned grasses, ferns, and jungles soft, 
Moss ankle-deep — like melted glaciers — 
Leads from the seashore inland; there the trees, 
Green as the glassy verdure of the sea, 
Meet them and do obeisance. But such trees! 
Spruces with double tassels at the elbow, 
Like to some richest burgher's idlest wife, 
With superfluity of sable furs 
Filling the air, — trees that with greedy pride, 
For fear some grass shall occupy the earth, 
Stretch their green luxury along the soil 
And carpet it themselves, — the running juniper 
More seldom seen than tripped on, the blue 
spruce — 

blessed shipwreck! Blessed, blessed fog 
And every crime that led us into it. 

For crime it is, crime somewhere. Blessed crime ! 
That lets me loose to view the face of heaven, 
To feel the wind, to see the ocean heave, 
To — to — meet old fumbling foolish Tisias. 

{Enter Tisias.) 
Tisias! Tisias! (No answer.) Tisias, I say, — 

Tisias 

1 hear thee. 



NEPTUNE'S ISLE 23 

Aglaia 
Tisias, you and I are things no more, 
Pieces and pawns and bits of something else. 
I am no tool nor bit of furniture, 
No sconce for Neptune's taper; nor are you 
A patient mat to clean a kingly shoe. 
We are companions in humanity, 
Drenched into life, — set soaking on a shore 
To dry and find our souls. Come, Tisias, 
Sit, and I'll tell thee more philosophy 
Than you could draw from out a flock of sheep, 
With all your skewers. 

Tisias. (Gloomily.) 
The isle has changed us. 

Aglaia 

Brought the inner out: 
Let loose the bird. 

Tisias 

Yes, you are very changed. 

Aglaia 
You shall be also. 

Tisias. (Gesture with his thumb.) 
He is very changed. 

Aglaia 
Who " he"? the fat man? 

Tisias 

Phormio, Phormio too; 
Though not grown thin. 

Aglaia 
And how is Phormio changed? 



24 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

Tisias. {Mysteriously.) 
The bird is loose. 

Aglaia 
The bird is loose? 

Tisias 
Hark! All this moisture and drip from the 
trees takes the curl from the hair. (She uncon- 
sciously j eels for her locks.) The sleek mermaid 
and the siren that sings and dives, and the 
green, scaly naiad that peeps and flutters — 
and behold it is a tree — 

Aglaia 
Tisias, your brains are turned with famine and 
salt water. Here is what was once a biscuit. 
I myself can live upon clams, scallops, and the 
strong-tasting blackberry. I am used to nun's 
diet. 

Tisias 
No. 

Aglaia 
What is it then? 

Tisias 
Phormio retires: he puts aside priestly 
things. He settles — he — he — 

Aglaia 
Tisias, come to yourself. Hold the malady 
at bay and be a man. What is this mumbling 
and trembling? Phormio retires? 

Tisias 
He — he marries. 

Aglaia 
On this island? 



NEPTUNE'S ISLE 25 

(Tisias nods.) 

Aglaia 
ME! — The monster! How long have you 
known this? 

Tisias 
Ten minutes. 

Aglaia 
I'll dive into the sea and turn a dolphin. 
To scud behind the driving fisherman 
And live on offal. I will build a nest 
Upon the crow-top of the crooked'st tree, 
Whose jagged spars tear fat men climbing up. 
I'll burrow in the earth, — I'll disappear. 

Tisias 
But he will search, — 

Aglaia 
Yes, — but he will not search. 
For, — hold ! We will forestall all thought of 

search 
By news of drowning. Thou shalt say I'm 

dead, 
Drawn to the bosom of my father-god 
Through jealous intimation of foul play. 
Neptune is terrible. This, Phormio dreads, 
And thou must lead him there to walk the 

shore; 
And let him find my soaked and stained dress, 
Fillet, and little trinkets of my body 
That never living maid would cast away. 
Then, let him tremble! I with fingers deft 
Will all o'erlace my bodice with green spoils 
Of vines and bark of birches, rich as silk, 



26 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

And, as a naiad, live within the cave 
That fronts the outlet of the narrow bay. 
There have I seen a seaborn satyr splash — 
Its eyes like a young robin — in the surge. 
Never he'll seek me there! 'Tis near the flood. 
But thou shalt bring me food. Those tiny 

fruits 
(It seems all nature here is miniature) 
Must from the cunning rabbits be withdrawn 
To serve our need: starved apples, red as nuts, 
Wild grapes, with all the store of raspberries 
The trustful blackbird leaves upon the bush, 
For his to-morrow. Fish I'll catch myself 
With crooked pins of gold on threaded hairs, 
Which in the moonlight from the rocks I'll 

throw 
When none is by to see. The wind is rising — 

Tisias 
Some after-trouble follows from the sea, 
That seems to growl and bark about our refuge. 
Small animals come jumping through the brakes 
As if pursued. Ha ! What is that ? 

(A child, aged three, dressed as a satyr and 
playing on a wooden pipe, on which it can 
make only two notes, crosses the stage 
stolidly without noticing anyone. Tisias 
and Aglaia stand in amazement.} 

Aglaia 
It's stalking to its nest; I'll follow it. 
(Exit Aglaia and enter Phormio.) 
Phormio 
Tisias, I have seen strange things in this isle. 



NEPTUNE'S ISLE 27 

TlSIAS 

Yes sir. 

Phormio 
Where is Aglaia ? 

Tisias 
Gone. 

Phormio 
The water seems rising — 

Tisias 
The wind too, Phormio. 

Phormio 
This island is not so large but that Neptune 
could reach us if he would. 

Tisias 
The water soaks up through — see there! It 
is a spring of salt water. We are in a sieve. 

Phormio 
Where is Aglaia? {Thunder and wind.) 

Tisias 
When I did tell her of your black intent 
She screamed to Neptune, fled along a cliff, 
And so I lost her: she will come again. 
Go seek her on the margin of the isle. 

Phormio 
Neptune's her father — 

Tisias 

So she seemed to cry — 

Phormio 
Find me a cavern, cave, or hole in the ground, 
Where I may bide the passage of the storm. 



28 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

Anything, Tisias, — a hollow tree — 
If it be large enough, and on a hill. 

Tisias 
Look if the seagull yonder be not poised 
Above the corpse or body of a man, 
That rises, sinks, and rises — "Help!"' he 

cries. 
I'll save him — 

Phormio 
Not at all; it is a sheet, 
A shirt, or shred of garment. 

Tisias 

True, no more. 
I will not notice it: it is a sail, 
Or veil of Leucothea; such a skein 
Odysseus snatched to float him to the shore. 

Phormio 
It comes to us, I cannot choose but go — 

{Exit Phormio and re-enter, calling.) 
Help! Help! O Tisias, see here! 

{Showing Aglaicts dress.) 

Tisias 
She has destroyed herself. 

Phormio 
The tide is rising: see the angry crests 
Like monsters roaring at us. 

Tisias 

Phormio, friend — 
A dry tree's what you need. I know the place, 
If it be big enough. 



NEPTUNE'S ISLE 29 

{He measures him about.) 

I think it can be done. 

{Aside.) 
One comrade in a cave does hide 
And one within a tree; 
While I have need my pets to feed, 
For I alone am free. 

{Exeunt.) 



ACT II 

SCENE II ANOTHER PART OF THE ISLAND 

(Music. The young satyr is sitting almost 
asleep, his pipe in his hand. Enter Bacchyl- 
ides with his lyre. He is on tiptoe and has 
been following and charming the young satyr.) 

Bacchylides. (Sings.) 

i 

A feather floated down from Eros' wing. 
(Help me, Apollo, thou art everywhere; 
Give me to see and catch the gleaming thing.) 
He vanished in the liquid, magic air, 

And left no track. 
Alas, sweet thoughts come back: 
Lost music is a kind of sweet despair. 

ii 

Where has he wandered, open-eyed, alone? 
(Help me, Apollo, thou art everywhere.) 
His steps are fresh upon the mossy stone, 
Beside the brookfall on the soft green stair 

They leave their track. 
Alas, sweet thoughts come back: 
Lost music is a kind of sweet despair. 

in 
Hold him, ye nymphs! Surround his hazy eyne. 
(Help me, Apollo, thou art everywhere.) 

30 



NEPTUNE'S ISLE 31 

Becloud him with the fumes of Music's wine, 
That melt the heart and die upon the air, 

Yet leave a track; 
For all good thoughts come back: 
Blest thoughts, the soul's most sweet, most deep 
repair. 

(He touches his lyre occasionally after going 
into prose , so as to lull the child.) 

It has taken me six hours of stalking, but I 
have him. He fled the opium, but it overcame. 
It rolled behind him in a dulcet cloud of melo- 
dious rapture. The rustic must succumb to 
science. See how sound ! He snores like crack- 
ling seaweed. (Touches the lyre and at the same 
time takes the child's pipe and tries notes upon it.) 
And this is music! There is no Academy on 
this island: so much is certain. The scale I 
take to be Dorian, — the cellar-doorian ascend- 
ing scale. Will his mother care to lose him? 
That is the question. Or is he just a fungus, 
a round orange, puffing up out of the soil? 
There should some man in Greece be appointed 
to count these islands; for they are so many 
that they multiply and decrease of themselves, 
before it is noted. Here now is one which 
nobody knows of, and inhabited by sea-urchins. 

(Gives back the pipe, then strums.) 

Up and dance, my little man, 
Dance as nicely as you can. 

Dance for old Bacchylides, 
Underneath the mossy trees. 



32 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

For your mother taught you how, 

I can see it in your brow. 
I can see it in your knees, — 

Dance for old Bacchylides. 
{The little satyr rises and dances.) 

Up and dance, up and dance, 
Half awake and half in trance. 
Goatling of the shiny shingle, 
Rabbit jumping through the dingle; 
Here thy parlor, hung with green, 
Here thy nursery is seen, 
Sylvan sward and forest hall, — 
Dance, thou tiny bacchanal! 

He's tame now, and will follow me to the 
world's end. {He gives the satyr a bit of biscuit 
from his pocket.) What is thy name? 

Myrmo 

Myrmo. 

Bacchylides 

Do you speak Greek or Hebrew? Neither. 
A most extensive language. The less he says, 
the more I understand. Neither. He loves 
me because I teach him the elements. Here is 
a great comment upon your new god, Education, 
that I, a gray-headed cynic, with gout and a 
witty rejoinder in every one of my toes, should 
teach dancing to this child of the woods! If 
Leon were here I would expound this : I would 
give him a philosophical prolegomena as long 
as Green's Introduction. I would not spare. 



NEPTUNE'S ISLE 33 

I am paid for this part: the rest is the froth and 
generosity of my mind. {Enter Leon.) Leon, 
silentium! Bid good morrow to your fellow 
pupil. I open a school here, and the squirrels 
alone may sit in the gallery and chatter. The 
rest must observe rules. Master Myrmo : Mas- 
ter Leon. 

Leon 
This, this only was wanting. {Shakes hands 
with Myrmo.) Comrade, I will do myself the 
honor of giving you a kiss. 

Bacchylides. {To Leon.) 
Now shall you dance for the satyr. 
{He causes Myrmo to sit on a stool, as auditor, 
and makes Leon dance while he himself 
sings.) 

One two, son of a king, 
(If you call these Greeklings kings at all) 

We have a name for everything, 
And names are great, while things are small. 
Here is pine and eglantine, 
And the meandering sacred vine. 
Here let hickory with Terpsichore 
Interlace and intertwine, 
Interweave and interleave, 
And wind and bind with mystic sign; 
While young Saturn's eyes are growing 
Larger in the moon's decline. 
Leon 
Moon's decline, — a failure. 
Bacchylides 
See how he hangs his head, like the poppy. 



34 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

Is it not the tender-though ted moon? — that 
moon which man only sees when he's dead tired 
on the way home, say, or when he rises to shut 
the window at midnight? Poetry, — poetry, 
my lad. What have you to do with poetry — 
thou foolish young lover — thou clay-clod of 
hopeless modernity? A moment since I felt 
an impulse to teach; but now I see thou art so 
matter-of-fact, odious, unintellectual, and com- 
monplace in love that I will not open the wine. 

Leon 

But what is this island? Is it history? 

Who made these paths and little corridors? 

These hanging beards of moss on ivied boughs? 

This arras-tinted, beechen tapestry 

Gives all the gravity of ancient state 

To fairy fortresses : rocks, slowly won, 

That crown a secret terrace, galleries 

Where a lost princess might be counting gems 

Attended by the toadstools. How can walks, 

Never betrod, or only trod in dreams 

By moon-lit lovers threading paths of thought — 

Bacchylides 
Man has been here! This veil of mystery 
Is hung by Nature on the face of man. 
She clothes dead peasants with the state of 

kings, 
Setting tall iris in imperial grief 
To watch his coffin, — powders the rich pall 
With seeds vermilion: drops gold-shining knots 
On the red mold of rusty sarsenet, 
And stands behind the service. Not a spray 



NEPTUNE'S ISLE 35 

But hides the spring, the sickle, or the plow, 
The pasture, the quick lane to neighbors' barn, 
And barefoot children standing at the stile. — 
These are the story Nature overwrites 
With daring pathos. And their eyes peep 

through — 
The blue-eyed children bloom in dreadful death; 
The farmer with the pine roots in his heart 
Transfuses Nature: such is Fairyland. 

Leon 
But this is terrible. 

Bacchylides 

It is, it is. 
All beauty has a touch of terror in it. 
And this young goat (who's had enough of 

learning 
And glances like a schoolboy at the clock) 
Is the last conquest of transforming Pan, — 
Human, yet how he gambols o'er the brake, 
And throws his waxy hooflets to the sun! 
The lecture's done. Run, children, to your 
play! 
(During this speech Myrmo has gone out. Exit 
also Bacchylides.) 

Leon. 

(Who is sunk in gloom.) 
So doth love, dying, leave his legacy 
Of poesy to Nature. All our thoughts 
Are worthless till they reappear as dreams; 
Alive they're nothing, dead they're fairyland, 
And touched with tragic grace. O my Aglaia! 
My springing fountain in a cloister's jail, 



3 6 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

Green bush within the tomb, I could not save 

thee, 
Because Olympus set his marble blocks 
Upon my heart. I might disprison thee — 
Yet not release; Zeus only can do that. 
I have not left thee: I but seek the clue. 

{Enter Aglaia behind, dressed in bark and green 
leaves. She sees Leon, starts, recoils, almost 
totters, exclaims faintly, "Ah, Neptune!" 
recovers herself, and comes forward, still 
unobserved.) 

Aglaia. {Aloud.) 
I thought he must be here. Pardon, fair sir, 
Has a young scrambling satyr passed this way? 

Leon 
No, — Yes he has. But you — you are his 

mother? 

Aglaia 
Yes, and his nurse, the only tribe he has. 
We are the heritors: we are Proteus' seals 
And island things; I pray you do not hurt us. 

Leon 
O heavens, new pathos! Are not men and 

women 
Sufficient for the gods, but they must damn 
With animal infusion heavenly souls? 
Good woman, if you were a farmer's wife 
Seeking her chubby child, I'd tell you plainly 
The child was here. Go plait your circular 

brow 
With reeds to hide the animal fulness of it! 
Go, low-browed Galatea, — thy child was here. 



NEPTUNE'S ISLE 37 

Aglaia 
I am Neptune's daughter and a thing of the sea. 

Leon 
Perfect in heartlessness are all the gods! 

Aglaia. {Aside.) 
The worst is over. Men in women see 
Only their dresses; and by shift of shift 
Andromache may pass for Hecuba. 

{To Leon.) 
In which direction went he? 

Leon 

Leapt in the brambles. 
In which direction ? Thou art beautiful 
And in thy lineage near to one I loved, 
But older. And thy children — 

Aglaia 

Nay, I've but one. 
Leon 
Through thy base godhead still thou gleamest 
woman. 

Aglaia 
Oh no, my lord ! But you'll not do us harm — 

Leon 
I'll tell thee all my story. To uncoil 
A snake about my heart, I'll sup with serpents. 

Aglaia. {Aside.) 
A pretty compliment. 

{She sits down.) 
Leon 
I was born a prince, 
But one with leisure to become a man, 
Not a stuffed ox or block for draping clothes. 



38 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

My father is a kind of gentleman 
More than a king. And I have run as wild 
As goats on Capri. For our kingdom's small: 
They could not lose me. You'll not under- 
stand, — 
You wild-bird creature, you who live on rime 
And drink the dew before the sun is up, — 
The narrowness of kingdoms, the shrunk hearts 
And evil-smelling houses. I grew sick 
And on the margin of the prisoning sea 
Drank opium from the clouds. 

Aglaia 

Alas, sad boy! 
Would I had been there with some porcelain 

crabs 
Or old sea-helmets, drawn from drowned 

knights, 
To be your playfellow. 

Leon 

And there I met 
An all-but-child young priestess, muttering 
Poseidon's liturgy along the shore. 
It seems they break the appetite of nuns 
With prayer. I gave her Homer for her 

meat; 
And every day, at stolen hours of thrift, 
With golden cup and loaf renewed the gift 
In draughts of rapture. I her thought would 

teach, 
And she my soul had taken; each to each 
Became the Homer where the other read. 
Within our hearts in little drops we bled, 



NEPTUNE'S ISLE 39 

Listing to notes no minstrel ever sung, — 
The harp of life that in the bosom hung. 

Aglaia 
Ah, was it so indeed ? 

Leon 

Life ! — from the core of life were both cut off, 
She by her vow, and I by my despair — 
Yet crept it in: gold was it like a bell 
And glowing like a burning film of light. 
But what know ye, 

Ye senseless beings of the glossy earth, 
Begirt with leafy beauty, ye fresh grasses 
That wave in the wind, what can ye know of 
love ? 

Aglaia 
Even for that instruct me. Her you taught; 
And he who could inspire a crabbed nun 
Might wake a wood-nymph. 

Leon 

She in her bosom bore the unshattered sphere, 

The crystal microcosm, the hot beat 

That weaves the earth to union with the sun, 

And all to God! What part in this hast thou? 

Beautiful mask, thing uninhabited! 

For whether in the iris of the moon 

The water lily shows her paly glow, 

Or orchid blazes in the tropic shade, 

Nature but imps us; her brute-glorious eyes 

She sets upon us as in mockery. 

The fungus personates the blessed lily, 

And all inanimate nature imps man's thought 

To make him heartsick. 



4 o NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

Aglaia 
Thou speakest things I may not understand, 
Being but earth-born. 

Leon 

Couldst thou understand 
I could not speak them. Thou dost set me 

free. 
For see what prize the little priestess bore, 
And thou an empty vessel. Fair thou art 
With something of Aglaia's humorous look 
That minds me of her. 

Aglaia 
But let me speak — 

Leon 
But what hast thou to speak? 
Aglaia. {Revealing herself.) 
A life within a life. 

When love is taken, Nature turns to toys; 
When love returns she mirrors all love's joys. 
Then turn the concave mirror of thy breast 
To take the image that is here expressed — 
A maid in Nature. 

Leon 
Aglaia! 

Aglaia 
Leon! 

Leon 
But how did you come here? 

Aglaia 
God knows, but I am here. 

Leon 
How long have you been here? 



NEPTUNE'S ISLE 41 

Aglaia 
Some week or two. A shipwreck. 

Leon 
But how long and when did you know me? 

Aglaia 
I knew you the instant I saw you on the 
log, frowning. 

Leon 
Why did you not speak before? 

Aglaia 
Because I am not in the habit of declaring my 
love to young princes. They must begin. 

Leon 
But you knew of my love before. 

Aglaia 
It is not enough. 

Leon 
But Aglaia, — what have I said? 

Aglaia 
Well, I do not know that I could repeat it; 
but it is enough for an introduction. 

Leon 
But Aglaia, Aglaia, — 

Aglaia 
Well, Leon. 

Leon 
Why this unusual — this fantastic dress? 

Aglaia 
I will explain. It is a story, strange yet natu- 
ral: you will approve. 

Leon 
But you'll — you'll — catch cold ! 



+ ; NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

Ac LA I A 

There is no such thing in this climate. 

1 EON 

And, — and that young animal — 

Ad AIA 

Myrmo, the satyr? A friend, but no relative. 

You said he was your boy. 

A OLA I A 

No sir. No. Loon. It was you :hat said he 
was my soil 1 said, — I ill-; r said 1 v 

his mother. He is an islander, I thin 
Baoohyi.ides. (EnUring.) 

How now. Master Hyacinth, have you scon 
yourself in the pool yet? (Observing Aglaia.) 
I beg pardon Fm sure, Madam. 1: I 
picked a blossom from you by accident last 
evening, forgive me. I took you for a hawthorn 
bush. I — I — don't kno yaur name; but I 
could sing you to the tune of Green Sleeves. 

Leon 

Lock. Bacchylides — Aglaia! 
Bacchylides 
What? No! And she so chaste, so prudish, 
that she would never sit more than four hours 

a; midnight watching the ebb 
— For s' aia, you have followed us. 

Leon 
No! Bacchylides, 

Aglaia 
I will explain. No, I will not. Why should 



NEPTUNE'S ISLE 43 

I? You shall explain. How came you on my 
island — ? 

Bacchylides. (To Leon.) 
How came we on her island? 

Leon 
Let me see. We were sailing from Egypt to 
Abydos and our water was low, and we stopped 
to draw water — 

Bacchylides 
But where ? 

Leon 
Why here. 

Bacchylides 
Plainly some god is at the bottom of it. 

Aglaia 

And do you spend some time with us? But 
forgive me, Leon! you talk so well; and I saw 
that I had only to keep quiet and the honey 
would drop from the comb. (To Bacchylides.) 
He is pouting a little because he did not recog- 
nize me. Why, this was the best sign of true 
love — blindness. He is wondering what he said 
to me. Comfort us, Bacchylides. You arrive 
in the nick of time to save us from a quarrel 
over nothing. I tell thee what! — Sing to us. 
Bacchylides, I have never asked much of you. 
Will you do me a favor and sing to us ? 

Bacchylides 
You have never asked nor I ever done aught 
for you. No, indeed! Except to perjure my 
soul and damn my character with black infamy 



44 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

for serving the mad love passing between both 
of you. How often have I told lies to your 
mother-in-law that is to be, when she taxed 
Leon with late hours! "Pindar is hard, 
Madam," said I. " Pindar and these oily, 
little, smoking lamps hurt the eyes" — and 
him with a blotched face for bellowing about 
his love! Go off, ungrateful monkey. You 
get no songs out of me. 

Leon 
Keep begging, Aglaia. This is the tuning up 
that all musicians must do, this protestation. 

Aglaia 
Good Bacchylides, dear Bacchylides, Bacchyl- 
ides, a song, — 

Bacchylides 

Well, I will sing you a song I wrote before 
I knew any of you or your sea monsters. It 
was written to a girl that dwelt at Sunium long 
ago. 

Leon 

More tuning up. 

Bacchylides 

And what if it were ? Can I sing without the 
old magic behind? Go to! You have the sign 
manual of all true love: you believe yourselves 
the true discoverers, you only, you two. Sit 
ye down over there. This was of the old era, 
before you two walked out of your shells to 
occupy the earth. 



NEPTUNE'S ISLE 45 

{Tunes and sings.) 

1 

This was the summer whose gradual splendor 
Burned the meridian, while the deep sea 
Whispering, murmuring, watched the surrender, 
Cradled my union, my loved one, with thee. 

11 

Mute was the music and mystic the paean 
That skirted the magical days as they fled. 
These were the nights when the starred empy- 
rean 
Bent o'er the passion it silently fed. 

in 

Turn, ancient earth! Toward twilight thou 

wagonest, 
Bliss that has lasted for thousands of years. 
Lo! as thou sinkest, behold the protagonist, 
Hesperus, pilot his glittering spheres. 

{Curtain.) 



ACT III 

SCENE I ANOTHER PART OF THE ISLAND 

{A great tree on one side of the stage. From a 
high branch of the tree a basket is hanging 
by a string. Enter Tisias. He puts some 
nuts and leaves into the basket.) 

Tisias. {Calling.) 

Phormio! {Aside.) I will reduce that great 
porpoise. He shall come down more like the 
young monk than he went up. It was the 
fright that raised him: he clung like a wild cat, 
and sped upward. Now I have removed the 
lower branches for my more commodious enter- 
tainment here, and he is become a treed cata- 
mount. {He sits down and begins to eat some 
melons, grapes, biscuits, etc.) 

Phormio ! 

Phormio. {Feebly, from above.) 
What, Tisias ? 

Tisias 
More refreshment! 

Phormio 
More berries and less nuts, good Tisias. 

Tisias 
What! Those cone-pine seedlets are ac- 
counted a delicacy at Italian dinner parties. 

4 6 



NEPTUNE'S ISLE 47 

They eat them with spinach and with risotto 
and with candied pistachio rodomontados. 

Phormio 

But, dear Tisias, by themselves and without 
salt — and it takes so long to find the seeds: 
every cone must be picked over. 

Tisias 

Time? Time? You have time enough, 
surely. Do you remember ^Esop's fable about 
the pig and the banker? No? I will tell it to 
you. Ah, a great story-teller is iEsop; and 
he generally lays the scenes of his tales, or the 
tales of his scenes, in familiar spots. 

Phormio 
What are you eating, Tisias ? 

Tisias 
Only a leg of the last rabbit, and three fingers 
of biscuit which I found in the gold ware. 

Phormio 
But those fruits? 

Tisias 
Nothing. Nothing in the world. What? 
Oh these? Grapes to be sure. I brought them 
to show you, because they lend color to my 
belief that this island was once dry ground. 

Phormio 
Send me up a bunch of them, dear, sweet 
Tisias. 

Tisias. {Eating.) 
Not for worlds ! They puff and blow out the 
body. I have seen some new sights and made 



48 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

some astrological observations and measured 
the tides. 

Phormio 
Well — ? 

TlSIAS 

We are sinking rapidly. There is water in 
the hold and all the creatures — for the isle is 
inhabited — 

Phormio 

What! 

TlSIAS 

All the creatures are putting on sea-forms. 
You have read about this. There is a young 
sort of skunk-satyr who lives in a cave with a 
sea-female — 

Phormio 

I am weak: I care not what happens, give 
me a few grapes. 

TlSIAS 

Well — pull up ! {He puts some grapes in the 
basket and holds it breast-high.) Don't eat the 
seeds, they give melancholia. I have left a 
crust of biscuit and a hare's thigh, also a crow 
which I found on the headland not quite finished 
by a young fox. What! {At this point he 
catches sight of Bacchylides and drops the basket.) 
Help! Heavens, we are bewitched! Save 
yourself! It is upon us, — Neptune is upon us! 
{Exit running, enter Bacchylides.) 

Bacchylides 
The soothsayer! I thought so! Aglaia 
warned me, or I should have fainted outright 



NEPTUNE'S ISLE 49 

with antagonism. He has the jaw of the starv- 
ing jackal! Behold his lair, his filthy food, 
his knuckle bones: the island is full of game. 
And where is the vampire, the swelled Phormio ? 
And where is the trunk of gold goblets Aglaia 
speaks of? Here's a couple of Ulysses' swine 
indeed, with their snouts in gold pots! 
Phormio. {Aside.) 

If I fall not off through this trembling and 
weakness, I vow a gold pillar to Neptune. I 
will reform, and I will tell all. 
Bacchylides 

Now what would Orpheus do here? Must 
he always sing? Must he charm with death 
in his throat, play only because play he must, 
like the dying swan? No! No! I am more 
than a poet. I will catch this fox Tisias 
alive, and I will do it by means of a stringed 
instrument. 

{Lays down his lyre, produces some cord, and exit.) 

Phormio 
Poor Tisias ! 

{Enter Leon and Aglaia.) 
Leon 
Behold yon skeleton of noblest pine 
Devoured by the gray and druid moss. 
Lies he not like some rich old senator 
Felled by his reverend vices to the earth 
And outlined in corruption? 

Aglaia 

Where he stood 
A gap is left among his greener mates. 



50 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

Leon 

And lo, they too! The legacy of theft 
Hangs on their living lips. 

Aglaia 

The trees are wonderful. 
But have you seen the western stand of cedars 
That flaunts against the sunset those rich flags 
Roughened with tiny cones of yellow gold — 
As if they held their babies up to view — 
Till sinking Phoebus kiss them? 

Leon 

Bacchylides protests that all this soil 
Has somehow drunk the mind of vanished man, 
Which flushes it to pathos. 

Aglaia 

He's a poet: 
We must do something for Bacchylides. 

Leon 
How he would laugh to hear it. 

Aglaia 

Why to hear it? 
The poet is the easiest man to help. 

Leon 
What! He's the only man one cannot help! 

Aglaia 
Hear me: I'll teach thee how to treat a bard. 
Leave him his liberty, but give him gold. 
Heed him at all times — only when he's cross 
Neglect him; but the instant he relents 
Forgive him and renew the old caress. 
Swear he is always great and always right — 



NEPTUNE'S ISLE 51 

And all his songs are always excellent: 
Kneel to his judgment. You will spoil a man 
But make an artist happy. 

Leon 

Yes, my love — 
All this is true, I see, but never easy. 
Phormio. {Aside?) 
Oh monstrous! See if this little stripling 
here has not taken up with the first island 
woman he meets. And he so lovelorn over 
the little priestess that the scrub women of the 
temple pitied his case, and all our discipline was 
corrupted out of sympathy for his tragedy. 
Out on thee! Libertine! Dost thou respect 
nobody? Now that thou and thy Athenian 
have arrived we shall have cooing enough I 
warrant. Two wood doves! And Aglaia in 
her ocean grave! But there is more heart in 
him than in Tisias, and I must have food. I 
will groan like an earth spirit. (Groans.) 

Aglaia 
Hist! What was that? 

(Phormio groans again.) 
Leon 
There, again! 

Aglaia. (To Leon.) 
Why, it is Phormio, of course. Didn't Tisias 
tell me that he had him in safety ever since I 
threw my clothes in the sea? We must pretend 
that I am the sea-cow which Neptune sent to 
frighten the mares of my cousin Hippolytus. 
Wait! I understand this tree-climbing sloth 



52 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

better than thou. Do thou listen to me now 
without smiling, and go out when I tell thee to. 
Then, on my signal, when thou art outside and 
on the farther side of this tree, and when he is 
in the trance of my song, do thou rush in, 
making a noise like a sea-cow. This will shake 
him from his perch. 

Leon 
How can I do that? What noise? 

Aglaia 
Go! Go! Make a noise — like — like Cy- 
clops in love and weeping and telling his love 
to his Mother Earth: at the same time drink- 
ing out of a bucket of buttermilk. 

Leon 
How? 

Aglaia 
Go, go! A sea-cow is easy enough— But wait — 
{In a false voice.) 

No, no, 
Young sir, you are a saucy boy! 
I'll not consent: you shall not kiss my fin, 
Or rest your dreamy eyes upon my hair. 
I am the sea-cow sent in Phormio's wake, 
To charm him to destruction. I've no time 
For genuflections. Go, thou naughty child, 
Before my sister comes with reedy tusk 
And bears thee seaward. I must sing him down 
And she will bear him off. Go, hide thyself. 

{Then very sweet and leering.) 
And come again, sweet elf, this afternoon. 

{Exit Leon.) 



NEPTUNE'S ISLE 53 

(She takes the lyre and sings.) 
1 
Far in the mist, rocked in the rain, 

A rough seafisher's little skiff 
Is battling bravely home again 
To the cottage on the cliff. 

But the long sea-lying open reef, 
With the rocks that sink and rise, 
Has bared the bosom of its grief 
To the light of the evening skies; 
And three salt maids from under seas 
Throw stinging strains upon the breeze 
And sweet delirious eyes. 

11 
Did the wind shift before it fell? 

There is no wind at all. 
And the young fisher knoweth well 

The tide that soon must fall: 

He knoweth the long, low, open reef, 

With the rocks that fall and rise, 

And the bosom of his rocky grief 

Is bared to the evening skies. 

And he dreads the maids from under seas, 

Their stinging strains upon the breeze, 

And their delirious eyes. 

in 

The tiller of his mind doth swing 

As aimless as the sea; 
He careth naught for anything 

But a dream in his heart hath he: 



54 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

Of a long sea-lying, open reef, 
With rocks that sink and rise, 
And purge their bosom of its grief 
In the light of the evening skies. 
And of three maids of under seas, 
Their soothing strains, their melodies, 
And their celestial eyes. 

(She makes a signal. A noise without, as of a 
sea-cow coming through the jungle. Aglaia 
screams^) 

Phormio 
Help! Help! (Falls out of the tree amid a 
crashing of branches. Enter Leon.) O Leon, 
young prince Leon, save me! The god Poseidon 
is chasing me with his cow. 

Leon 
Get up and be a man. The god Poseidon, 
whose lying, hypocritical priest thou hast been, 
will punish thee. I will not save thee. Thou 
hast blasphemed thy god, betrayed thy King, 
and plotted against a holy priestess. What 
punishment remains for thee I know not. 

Phormio 
But this cow! 

Aglaia 
The cow, Phormio, is a cow of the mind. 
The cow is thy conscience. 

Phormio 
My conscience! I praise God. My con- 
science, only my conscience. (Begins to eat.) 
(Enter Bacchylides with Tisias, who is en- 
snared with the cord.) 



NEPTUNE'S ISLE 55 

Bacchylides 
It is not a noble or royal game to hunt the 
jackal: I never read of it in Persian history. 
But it will do. See if we have not each a full 
bag — 

I from the brake and thou from the skies; 
This is the game which our island supplies. 

Now, all forward! We will reduce these jail- 
birds to ethical proportions by good discipline 
in a rocky chamber. {To Phormio.) Fie, thou 
filthy swine! must you be ever eating — even in 
the act of discovery and public condemnation? 

Aglaia 

Bacchylides, dear Bacchylides, they have 
been punished already greatly. Gently, Bac- 
chylides. Remember that we too are casta- 
ways. 

{Exeunt.) 






ACT III 

SCENE II THE SHORE OF THE ISLAND 

{Enter the King and Queen in custody of the 
Mitylenian general, Canchrax. Glaucus and 
Io are following.) 

Canchrax 

Your Majesties, I leave you on the strand, 
Fulfilling the bad duty laid upon me 
Not without tears. The Lords of Mitylene 
Devise it so. I humbly ask forgiveness. 

King 

To grant forgiveness 
Is the last act of dying royalty: 
I would I could forgive thy masters, too. 

Queen. {To Canchrax.) 
It is an act of treason, not of war, 
By which we perish. And I do not wonder 
That you, a soldier, weep your hand in it. 
Our servants were suborned, the town surprised. 

King. {To Queen.) 
The man but does his duty: do not chide him; 
And keep your comment till we are alone. 

Queen 

I'm a plain woman, who was once a queen, 
And now may speak her mind. But you, my 
lord, 

56 



NEPTUNE'S ISLE 57 

You, who despise all kingship and have mocked 

it, 

Do now adopt a kind of majesty 
In putting off the crown. 

King. (Smiling.) 

Well said, my love, — 
I wish to throw a glamour on the past 
By showing that I understood the pose 
Though I disdained to use it seriously: 
'Tis now delightful trifling. 

(To Canchrax.) Go, good sir, 
Tell your employers you have left the King 
More master of his leisure and his mind 
Than when you found him. Here is happiness. 
His boyhood dreamed of this, and his old 

age 
Takes it as blessing. Thank the Mitylenes 
For bringing back green woods into the world, 
This forest by-road, and the broken screens 
That lead it to the sea. 

(He turns his back on Canchrax and talks to 
the Queen in dumb show.) 

Canchrax. (To Glaucus.) 
Glaucus, I pity thee. 

Glaucus. 

I neither ask thy pity 
Nor dread thine hate. 

Canchrax. 
Comrade, adieu. 

Glaucus. 
Call me not comrade: and for thine adieux, 
Address them to the sun; for thou dost die 



58 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

Even in leaving me. I see the gash 
Of death across thy brow. 

Canchrax 

How? Dost thou jest in chains? 

My duty's done. 

(Exit.) 

King. (To Queen.) 
If I had done some crime we might be sad, 
But, being innocent, we must be glad. 
I ever took that kingdom as a show, 
Then why not this ? 

Queen 
Unless we starve — 
King 

Look there! 
Men do not starve where goats have left a 

track 
Among the vines of berries red and black. 
Besides, the food we have for some few days; 
And next, a humble dwelling we must raise 
And live like shepherds. We must tune our 

moods 
To the sharp savor of poetic foods, 
Whereby our senses, growing less perverse, 
May see new wonders in the universe, 
And learn, perchance, what marvels here belong. 
(Enter Myrmo, who goes to the shore and 
picks up seashells.) 
Already has the strand become a song 
That tells of fairies. Mark his doughty fist! 
There's a crab-cruncher to drive off the crows 
And take the spoils himself! 



NEPTUNE'S ISLE 59 

Queen 

The blessed darling! Let us make no noise, 
But sit like statues by the lapping waves, 
And see what he will do. 

{Myrmo presently sees the King, Queen, and 
Glaucus; starts, runs away, returns, and 
finally brings them oysters; then exit, run- 
ning.) 

King 
If we would know how kind the creatures are 
We have but not to fright them. Lo, this kid, 
Who never yet saw man or womankind, 
Is trustful as an angel. 

Glaucus 

Is this real? 
They say that men in famine see strange sights, 
Our brains being fodder to our appetites; 
And, as the brain grows light, being fed upon, 
These apparitions float about in the sun. 

Io. {Without.) 
It's more than mortal can bear — and the 
fire blistering my eyes for them. 

King 
Here comes my pain. I begged you to dis- 
charge her while we had the power. Now it's 
too late. 

{Enter Io.) 

Io 

Your Majesties will ask General Glaucus to 
keep out of my kitchen. I've enough with the 
cockroaches and the beachroaches without hav- 



60 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

ing all the land crabs and the soldier crabs to 
come and peep into my pots. 

Glaucus 
What dost thou mean, termagant! Your 
Majesty, I will walk and examine the isle. If 
this fury has some complaint against me, I 
leave my case in your hands. 

(Exit.) 

Queen 

The General must keep out of any part of 
the island that she calls her kitchen. 

King 
What a precise knowledge of our household 
the enemy must have had, that they banish 
this woman with us. There's malice! 

Queen 
Ingrate! She has almost housed and fed us 
already. She has a dinner of three courses — 

Io 
Four, your Majesties — oysters roasted, with 
wild celery soup, lobsters broiled, a codfish 
I caught myself, some flag roots stewed with 
parsley, and fruit enough to make market-day 
in Troezene. 

Queen 
And she has laid out your rugs in a parlor 
under the bank, where you may sleep after 
eating. 

King 
She has her uses. 

Queen 
While you talk, she works. Uses indeed! 



NEPTUNE'S ISLE 61 

Io 

Will your Majesties do me the favor to speak 
to Master Glaucus? He has an impertinent 
eye in his head. 

Queen 

Yes; I will speak to him myself. 

Io. {Self-consciously.) 
I shall need some help with the dishes. 

King 
Solitude breeds wit. Dishes! What dishes? 
Seashells a foot across, I suppose. Throw them 
into the salt water! 

Queen 
I think Io must be having some visions also. 

Io 

Visions, is it? I had no meaning to tell your 
Majesties, but to keep them for a surprise. 
See what I found under a bank! 

{Exit and re-enters with the gold vessels.) 

King 

What! 

Queen 
These are no dishes. 

King 

Somewhere have I seen 
Vessels like these: but where, I have forgot. 
They are the sacred dishes of a god, 
Archaic, holy, and significant. 
Such as within Dodona's shadowy glooms 
Have dreamed for centuries. I cannot name 

him, 
But some divinity has hallowed these — 



62 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

Pan, Dionysus, — some informing god, — 
Perhaps this island's very deity; 
For sure a leafy prodigal is here, 
Rustling beneath this thick luxuriance, 
Who heaves his joy of life upon the air. 

(To Io.) 
You must not use them, lay them up again. 

Io 
As soon as I saw that peeking Master Glau- 
cus coming down the path, I hid them. 
(Exit Io, enter Glaucus.) 

Glaucus 
Your Majesties, I give you leave to doubt, — 
I doubt myself, my sight and senses all — 
But I have seen a god upon our island! 

King 
What! 

Queen 
Speak out! 

Glaucus 
If great Apollo in his jeweled car 
May visit mortal sight, I've seen the god; 
Or else 'twas Dionysus, drunk with life, 
Guiding his lynxes or wild beasts subdued — 
I know not which — attended by his suite, 
Hermes and Ariadne and young satyrs, 
And reveling demigods — I cannot name 

them — 
But gods, as clear as is Olympus' peak 
At sunrise. By their dress and walk, they're 

gods, 
And by the lack of mortal habitation, 



NEPTUNE'S ISLE 63 

And by the radiance of the polished cloud 
Surrounds them in their progress. Backed with 

blue 
Upon the rising knoll, it rolls them on. 

Queen 
Zeus the preserver, shield us! 

King 
Which way steered they? 
Glaucus 
Down the soft hillside, through the hazel copse. 

King 
This way, this way? 

Glaucus 

It seemed so — 
King 
This is the god whose goblets we beheld — 
'Tis best we step aside! 

(King, Queen, and Glaucus step aside. Enter 
Leon and Aglaia, hand in hand, leading a 
procession. Behind them Bacchylides riding 
in a kind of small chariot and driving Tisias 
and Phormio before him. Bacchylides car- 
ries his lyre and wears his wreath. Tisias 
and Phormio are dressed as the mythological 
sins, Cunning and Sloth. They are on all 
fours and are decorated with vines and other 
symbols. Myrmo, bearing a thyrsus, at- 
tends the team and helps Bacchylides to con- 
trol the restive animals.) 

Bacchylides 
Around the island we in triumph go, 
To make a penance for these wicked men, 



64 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

Three times revolving with our circling show 
We purge the curving shore and rocky glen. 
Halt! We must here perform our mystic rite. 
Grovel, ye monsters born of Primal Night. 

{Bacchylides descends from the car.) 
Apollo! here we do present 
Two sinners on this continent; 
One for cunning craft indicted, 
One by sloth and slumber blighted; 
Both must lay them on the ground. 
Kick them sure and beat them sound. 
Myrmo, Myrmo, punish well 
To save our island from their spell. 

( The beasts cover their faces and groan, while 
Myrmo beats them with his thyrsus and occa- 
sionally kicks them.) 
Now this nook is purified; 
Onward, Myrmo, be our guide. 

Aglaia 
We ought really to let them rest. 

Bacchylides 
Vices rest! Never! Your true poet subdues 
the vices. He rolls them beneath his song. 
Think of Apollo and Marsyas, and have no 
pity. Poetry has no pity. 

Leon 
There I believe you. And we have recited 
your verses long enough. 

Bacchylides 
Well, these villains are subdued; and I shall 
hang this car up in Apollo's temple at Delphi 
as the gift of a Greek king. 



NEPTUNE'S ISLE 65 

(King, Queen, Glaucus, and Io come forward. 
All the characters hold up their hands in 
amazement and exclaim, "Oh wonderful!") 
Queen 
O Leon, what is this ? My son I see. 

Leon 
Mother! (Kneels.) 

King 
Leon returned! Leon! 
(Turning from one to another.) 
Aglaia ! Bacchylides ! 
All the substance of my heart 
Dressed in a masque of Saturn. I'll not weep, 
Being too near to it, and lest the mist 
Might bear ye off again. 

(Embraces Leon.) 

Leon, my boy, 
When we are certified that it is thou, 
Explain thy coming. 

Leon 
I cannot, sir. 

Bacchylides 
If all will keep silence, I think I can explain. 
This is Aglaia, dressed in the fashion of the 
clime. These two are Tisias and Phormio — 
only they are reformed. Leon is there. I 
am here. In short — in short, it is truly we 
and truly ye; but the rest is uncertain. For 
how I came here I have forgotten, and how 
Aglaia came here I never knew, and how your 
Majesties came here remains in darkness. As 
for Myrmo, he was always here. And this, 



66 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

I trust, is a clear, short statement of the 
facts. 

King 
I thought ye to be gods — 
Queen. {Holding Leon fast.) 

Better than gods. 
Leon 
My father and my mother, 
I must present you to my only love. 

King 
All is most strange. I find myself again 
Upon the puddly shore where thou wast rolled; 
I think I hear the heaving of that sea 
That whispered to the sunset of a maid, 
An island, and a king. Thine eyes, Aglaia, 
Look on me now as then, most lovingly. 
I feel the godhead of mine ancestor 
Ascending strongly through the heady brine. 
He comes: stand all about: arrange yourselves 
As at an audience. 

( They do so. Enter Neptune, the King kneels 
and holds up his hands.) 

King 

God of the Ocean, life behind my line 
Declare thy purpose. 

Neptune 
Here have I drawn you by the threads of fate, 
Using no magic save the elements, 
And the strong natural magic of yourselves. 
Ye know not where ye are, nor how ye came: 
Ye know not what ye would, nor where ye go. 
Like children; or a company of players 



NEPTUNE'S ISLE 67 

That wander into one another's lives 

And find their parts provided in a play, 

So ye, controlled by the invisible, 

Have circled to a close. I come to tell ye, 

Your enemies are scattered on the blast: 

Sunk in the ocean is proud Mitylene, 

And every blasphemous lip is silent now. 

Ye are awaited by a happy town, 

To which your fleet shall float you joyously. 

It stays upon the tide. I know ye all 

And value; for within my glassy realm, 

As in the mansions of the solid air, 

Float the dark filaments of things that be. 

{To King.) 
Thou, blameless King, receive the great re- 
ward, — 
A son as blameless; on thy heart I built 
My temple, and on his, my citadel. 

{To Aglaia.) 
This foundling maid is an ^Egean princess 
Foredoomed to rule Troezene as its Queen. 

{To Leon.) 
Take her, Prince Leon, for her heart is thine. 
And with her take the dowry of this isle. 
'Tis Neptune's marriage gift, a twinkling 

star 
New spangled on the sea. It raised its brow 
Gently to greet a bride, within a league 
Of thine enamored shore; and with it rose 
That other star of love-in-piety 
That in thy inward firmament doth blaze; 
Both with one motion turn and are inlocked 



68 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

With the great wheels of heaven. So live we 

all — 
So the diurnal actions of the sky 
Work out the gods' designs. 

King 

(Raising his hand to impose silence while the 
god withdraws. Exit Neptune.) 
No mortal voice must answer. He is gone 
And we are left in wonder. What he spake 
I do believe, although the proof of it 
Lies in the piecing out of many fragments, — 
Work for a winter's evening. my friends, 
Strong inward props to courage must we take 
Seeing the gods do love us, and their loom, 
Behind the shuttling conflict of events, 
Weaves only justice. 

Leon 

Father, I perceive 
With what a tenderness you viewed our love, 
Seeming so stern. 

Aglaia 
No, he seemed never stern. 
I feared your mother more; but now, not so. 
(Gives her hand to the Queen.) 

Queen 

Daughter, you have no need. 

I had as heartfelt pangs about you both 

As woman ever knew. Now is all saved. 

Aglaia 
How now, Bacchylides, are you gloomy now 
that the storm is over? 



NEPTUNE'S ISLE 69 

Bacchylides 
Oh, aye, all is over now. I knew it would be 
so. It was too good to last. Now must we all 
return to humdrum. Our island is lost. Now 
that it is found it is lost; and all the delicate 
delights of it are soiled and explored. Fie! It 
is but a league from Troezene; there will be 
dirty children and music here on festival after- 
noons. I shall take my lyre and seek a new 
prince in misfortune; for I see nothing but com- 
fort ahead here, and the decay of genius. 

Leon 
Not while we can preserve thee, Bacchylides. 

Aglaia 
Not while hearts are warm in Troezene! 
(Enter sea-captain, mariners following.) 
Captain 
The royal trireme awaits your Majesty. 

King 
Ha! Is it so? 

Io. (Entering.) 
Dinner is served, your Majesties: 
Upon the beach the banquet is set out. 

King 
Good. We'll accept both offers — dinner first, 
To which, good Master Captain, you shall 



come; 



And after, in the trireme, to our home. 



A FAMILY QUARREL 

A PLAY FOR THE NURSERY IN TWO 

ACTS 



CHARACTERS 

Count Hugo, a provincial noble of Piedmont 

Sylvia, his wife 

Starling, their elder boy, aged six 

Elfkin, their second boy, aged two 

Petrarch, the butler 

Two Nuns 

The Monster 

Fairy 



A FAMILY QUARREL 
ACT I 

SCENE I THE PALACE 

(Sylvia and Starling. Sylvia is before her 
dressing-glass. Starling is choosing jewels 
• for her hair from a jewel box.) 

Sylvia 
Give me the dewdrops; they remember me 
Of my lank girlhood. Cool hypatica, 
That underneath old winter's soaking leaves 
Trims her shy toilet, shall not be more meek 
Than I. Fll set a fillet on my head 
Of beaded holly mixed with mistletoe; 
The red and alabaster alternating, 
Like fruits in stone or old mosaic glass, 
Shall turn me to a picture. So he'll learn 
He cannot chafe me. 

Starling 
Mother, what's the matter? 

Sylvia 
Ah, when a noble with a fairy weds, 
All of their days are spent in bickering. 
Your father, Starling, is the kind of man 
Who thinks it honor to be born at home, 
To have a son, to plow an ancient farm, 

73 



74 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

To own a wife, a cat, a Sunday suit, 
To strut and fret and eat, and call me his. 
All have I borne because thou wast my son. 
Thy fairy nature, copied after mine, 
Could never to his grossness be debased. 
But, dearest heart, thy brother is not so. 
Our baby Elfkin is of different clay, 
And father spoils the child, who daily grows 
More like a monster, selfish, rude, and raw. 
O Starling, we must save him. 

Starling 
Send papa away! 

Sylvia 

Yes, if we could; 
Leave him awhile in some enchanted wood 
Wandering alone. If grandmamma were here, 
My mother, the green witch — 

Starling 
Couldn't we all die, ourselves, to punish him? 

Sylvia 
My mother, the green witch, might help us now. 
{Enter Count Hugo with Elfkin by the hand, a 
dirty but vigorous child of two. The child has 
a patch of court plaster on his forehead, and 
his pocket is full of billets of wood, corks, 
and other rubbish?) 

Hugo 

Women are fools. It's men who rule the world. 
{To Elfkin?) Shall we go see the pigs? 

Elfkin 

Yes, pigs. 



A FAMILY QUARREL 75 

Sylvia. {To Hugo.) 
You'll leave that child to play among the pigs, 
As you did yesterday? 

Hugo 

Better than leave him with a jewel box, 
Or playing on some waiting-woman's lap. 
My ancestors have hunted the wild boar, 
Within their forests, for eight hundred years; 
And boys of manly spirit ever are 
At home with pigs. My boy shall be a man, 
And not a baby. 

Sylvia 

My child, your head is hurt — 

Hugo 

He cracked his head 
Against the cellar door. 

{To Elf kin.) Don't let them touch it. 
It is a manly wound. 

Elfkin. {To his mother.) 

Gettaway! 
Gettaway! {Throws something at her.) 

Hugo 

Aye, there's the wolf at bay ! 

The very image of my grandfather 

Old Wolf-at-Bay, green eyes and bulging brow, 

And born with teeth. Young Spear-the-Boar, 

Shall we go see the pigs ? 

Elfkin 

Yes, pigs. 
Starling 
Go 'way, you horrible man! You bad papa! 



76 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

You frighten my mamma. Some witch will 

come 
And lose you in the wood, or kill us all. 
Go 'way, you cruel man! 

Hugo 
And thus you set the child against his father? 

Sylvia 
It was the father first assailed the child. 
Hugo, beware! some punishment will fall. 
I am a witch's daughter and I call 
Upon my mother's minions for revenge. 
Mother! Avenge me! If I die to-night, 
Avenge your daughter on this dreadful man, 
Who ruins both his sons and kills his wife. 
Revenge ! Revenge ! 

Monster. (Without.) 

Who calls? 

Sylvia 
Hark! What was that? 

Hugo 

It was a cat that mewed 
In answer to a hen that cackles here. 

Sylvia 
You heard it? 

Monster. (Without.) 
Who calls? 

Sylvia 
There again an awful voice! 
Hugo, it's coming! Some calamity! 
Hold, hold the children fast, — a devil comes. 

Monster. (Entering.) 
Who called me? 



A FAMILY QUARREL 77 

Sylvia. {In terror.) 
No one ! No one called you here — 

Hugo 

Sylvia, you're mad, your staring eyeballs glare; 
And yet there's nothing there. 

Sylvia 

{On her knees before the Monster.) 
Spare them, oh spare them! Hugo, to your knees 
And pray for expiation. 

Hugo 

You are mad. 
I see no danger in a woman's fears. 
This is hysteria. Come along, my boy. 

Elfkin. {To the Monster.) 
Gettaway ! Gettaway ! 

{Throws something at it.) 

Sylvia 
He sees it! It's the Rachert: it is sent 
On messages of vengeance. Hold him back! 
{She endeavors to get between the child and the 
Monster , but Hugo holds her back.) 

Hugo 

You'd have the boy a milksop like your own? 
There's nothing there, you fool! Elfkin, go on 
And show Mamma our boy is not afraid. 

Elfkin. {Advancing boldly.) 
Gettaway! Gettaway! Gettaway! 

{As he approaches the Monster, it suddenly 
puts a big black sack like a coal sack straight 
down over the child, enfolds him in its 
voluminous person, and vanishes.) 



78 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

Sylvia 
Help! Help! He's gone. (She falls unconscious.) 

Hugo 
She's in a faint. 

(Hugo and Starling kneel by her, one on each 
side.) 

The woman's going mad. 
Starling, go fetch a glass of water, 
And tell old Petrarch. He will understand. 
(Calls.) Petrarch, Petrarch, — 
(Enter Petrarch.) 
Your mistress has a seizure; get some salts 
And bring her round. Come, Elfkin, to the pigs. 
Elfkin, we'll find the old boar's hiding-place, 
And where the falcon died, when I was young. 
I'll show the very spot. The eagle's nest 
We'll find and six young eaglets, Elfkin. 

(To Petrarch.) Where's the lad? 
We were all here — and suddenly she fell, 
Imagining she saw some fantasy, 
Some fairy monster. Then she cried, "The 

Rachert, " 
And fell upon her knees. 

Petrarch 

It is the Rachert! 
The Monster that takes children from their 
homes. 

Hugo 
You superstitious ass! Send me the boy, 
You've hidden him yourself. It is a trick! 
The whole of you are in it. Give the boy! 
(He throttles Petrarch.) 



A FAMILY QUARREL 79 

Give me the boy, and let your mistress lie. 
The boy, the boy, — give me my boy, I say! 

Petrarch. {With great solemnity.) 
Sir, do not choke me. I am powerless. 
Someone has called upon the Angel Death. 
Pray God it be but one he takes away. 
Perhaps the lady, — see her leaden eye 
And pallid cheek. 

Hugo 

The Angel Death ? 
'Tis nothing; she has fainted. Get some water. 
{Petrarch and Hugo are occupied over the lady.) 

Starling 

Where is Elf kin? I'll find him! I'll find him! 

(He runs toward the door, is met by the Monster, 

who silently makes away with him by the 

same method. Neither Hugo nor Petrarch 

observe the disappearance.) 

Petrarch. (To Hugo.) 
See, she revives. What pain is in her brow. 
Not rage, but humbleness must help us now. 

(Curtain.) 

END OF ACT I 

(Enter Fairy, as Chorus, before the curtain.) 

Fairy 
I am a spirit out of Fairyland, 
And I have leave to walk the nurseries 
And tell the news to babies everywhere; 
For into Fairyland was Elfkin brought, 
And Starling too. The fairies keep them safe 
Until the foolish parents shall turn good. 



8o NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

Foolish papa, who spoiled his little boy! 

Foolish mamma, who called the Monster down! 

They must be punished. Oh unhappy case! 

They think their children dead. They dress in 
black, 

And dry their tears on black-edged handker- 
chiefs, 

And cry all day and say that they were wrong. 

And both must suffer till they find the truth. 

The father must be brought to see his boy 

Just as he is, an ugly little whelp, 

A savage, insolent, neglected child. 

And oh, the mother, too, must see herself. 

She was too proud and over-delicate, 

And spoiled her Starling, too. Oh now she sees 

That little Starling needed his papa. 

Now she is tender, and her memory 

Shows her an icy image of herself 

That makes her weep afresh. 



ACT II 

{Hugo and Sylvia. A sparsely furnished room, 
two small tables at right and left center of 
stage. Both parents are dressed in deep 
black.) 

Hugo 
I have consented; but it is for your sake, 
Sylvia; I will adopt a child, since we have lost 
our own children. 

Sylvia 
And I know that nothing else will satisfy you, 
Hugo. Since the death of Elfkin, you have 
been like a broken creature. You have lost 
your son. You have lost your companion. 
You have lost your occupation. Your nature 
needs a child. You cannot live without one. 
You must adopt one. Hugo, dear, I was 
wrong to thwart you. I was wrong not to see 
how deep a tie there was between you and 
Elfkin. And I set Starling against you, too! 
And now we have lost them, — lost them 
forever — ! {Weeps.) 

Hugo 
I will do it for your sake, Sylvia; but I can- 
not bear to think of any stranger child's taking 
the place of my noble, manly boy, my hand- 
some, spirited, talented Elfkin, who was a joy 

81 



82 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

to everyone. The servants loved him even 
when he plagued them. This new child will 
remind me of Elf kin — that is the worst. 

Sylvia 
But that will pass away, my Hugo. And 
the happiness of having a child in the house 
once more will remain to us both. 

Hugo 
I have consented for your sake. 

Sylvia 

(Rings the bell. Enter Petrarch.) 
Petrarch, those ladies from the convent called? 

Petrarch 

(Looking from one to the other.) 
I have Madame's permission to relate? 

Hugo 

Yes, Petrarch, you may speak. 

Petrarch 

They came again 
And say that they have found a proper child; 
His teeth are good, his arms and legs are 

straight, 
He has an eye of fire and a fist 
As hard as a potato. And his spirit! 
It is the image of our former saint. 

Sylvia 
But have you seen him, Petrarch? 

Petrarch 

Hush! The nuns 
Hide him in a cage. I had a peep at him. 
They wait your pleasure in the Servants' Hall, 



A FAMILY QUARREL 83 

And while they wait they eat. The kitchen 

shelves 
Are cleared of food, and what they cannot 

eat 
They put in baskets for the parish poor. 
And, if your excellence takes my advice, 
You'll see them soon. 

Sylvia 
Poor creatures! Are they thin? 
Petrarch 
As fat as seals, 
With hands like fins and eyes like billiard 

balls; 
They frighten me. 

Hugo 

Let them come in. 
Petrarch. (Announcing.) 
Ladies, the Count and Countess do receive 
you. 
(Enter two nuns, short and stout, with linen 
caps very wide, their hands folded upon their 
stomachs. They enter with the greatest 
aplomb, curtsey suddenly to Sylvia, and 
station themselves one on either side of 
Hugo. Hugo is in the center of the stage, 
facing the audience. They also face the 
audience and stand very close to Hugo. 
Their heads are fixed, but they roll their 
eyes at each other significantly across Hugo, 
as if to say "We've got him") 
Hugo. (To Sylvia.) 
Save me at need. 



84 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

Sylvia 
You must speak to them. 

(To Petrarch.) Petrarch, wait outside. 
(Exit Petrarch.) 
Hugo 
You have a child to sell? 

First Nun 

No! 
Second Nun 

Never! 
Hugo 
You have a child to give? 

First Nun 

Not that either! 
Second Nun 

Not at all! 
Hugo 
Can I get the child ? 

First Nun 

Yes. 
Second Nun 

Of course. 
Hugo 
By giving money? 

First Nun 

Yes, money. 
Second Nun 

Money, certainly. 
Hugo 
How much? 

First Nun 

Oh, oh, oh, one. 



A FAMILY QUARREL 85 

Second Nun 

Oh, oh, oh, one. 
Hugo 
One thousand? 

{First Nun nods.) 
{Second Nun nods.) 
Hugo 
The child is of good family ? 

First Nun 

No, not very. 
Second Nun 

As good as yours. 
Hugo 
Strong ? 

{They nod.) 
Hugo 
Handsome? 

{They shake their heads.) 
Hugo 
Good tempered? 

( They look at each other as if to say, u Who shall 
begin, you or /?") 

First Nun 

That's as it may be. 
Second Nun 

It may be — 
First Nun 
It may be a baby 
Takes after the father; 
And who then can say 
If he's tempered that way. 
If he's like dear Papa, 



86 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

It grows hard to decide. 

When the father's a monster of family pride, 

And the baby's a pig with a hornet inside, 

Who can say which is best? 

Who can tell us the test? 

For the father had rather 

The baby resembled that horrible pest, 

That curse to mankind, — 

For all fathers are blind. 

{Very conclusively, turning sharply to Second 
Nun.) 
Isn't it so, sister? 

Second Nun. {Very conclusively.) 
ALL parents are blind. 

{During the foregoing monody Hugo has made 
an attempt to slip out by moving across the 
room; but the sisters have stuck close to him.) 
Hugo 
Save me, sweet wife, I am caught in a lock. 
These women, like oysters, cling fast to the rock. 
I'm stiff in each arm and I'm under a charm! 
They are marching me off to the stake or the 

block. 
O love of my life, 
Save me, sweet wife. 

First Nun 

That's as it may be, — 
Second Nun 

It may be — 
First Nun 
It may be a baby 
Takes after the mother; 



A FAMILY QUARREL 87 

And who then can say 

If he's tempered that way. 

If he's like dear Mamma, 

It grows hard to decide. 

When the mother's a goose, 

With her head on one side, 

And the baby's a darling, 

As can't be denied. 

But a puppet, a plaything, the toy of her mind, 

She spoils him and pets him, oh wicked, unkind! 

But all mothers are blind. 

{Very conclusively, turning sharply to Second 
Nun.) 
Isn't it so, sister? 

Second Nun. {Very conclusively.) 
ALL parents are blind. 

{During this, as before, Hugo has attempted to 
escape.) 

Hugo 
Save me, sweet wife, I am caught in their grip. 
These horrible sirens will not let me slip. 
I'm stiff in each arm and I'm under a charm, — 
They are marching me off to do me some harm. 
O love of my life, 
Save me, sweet wife! 

Sylvia 

husband, their magic is falling on me, 

1 feel myself chained like a rock in the sea. 
To help you I'd willingly forfeit my life, 

But I'm turning to stone, and no good as a wife. 
I can't stir a finger, I scarcely can moan, — 
O husband, forgive me; I'm turning to stone. 



88 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

First Nun 
{To Hugo, somewhat snappishly.) 
Do you still want the boy? 

Hugo 

I want to get out. 
Second Nun. {To Sylvia.) 
Do you still want to help this unspeakable 
lout? 

Sylvia 
Yes, yes. I would forfeit my soul for his sake. 

Second Nun 
Then stand by his side while the contract we 
make. 
{The nuns stand behind a table and place the 
parents one on each side. They then pro- 
duce a large parchment.) 
First Nun 
This agreement means to say 
That Hugo and his wife 
Will take two children to their arms 
And keep them all their life. 

Hugo 
No! 

Sylvia 
Two! Must we take two! 

First Nun 
One from her and one from me; 
And if you make a fuss, 
I'll change the two and make it three, 
With one from both of us. 

Hugo 
Can't we see them beforehand? 



A FAMILY QUARREL 89 

First Nun 
What a question! See them beforehand? 
Did you ever hear 

That parents chose their children out 
Before they did appear? 
You must be crazy, staring mad 
To ask what is so clear. 
Sign the paper, both of you — 
It's what all parents have to do. 
You must take them as they come, 
All and some. 

They may not have the finest wits, 
Nor yet the fairest hue; 
Though others think your boots misfits, 
They're good enough for you. 
They're good enough, and just enough, — 
Just good enough for you. 

Hugo 

This is terrible! What beasts are they 
going to unload on us ? 

Sylvia 
Oh, I'll love them all the more. They will at 
least be children — and we are so lonely. 

Hugo 
But to think of my beautiful, beautiful boy! 
And now comes some ugly common child. 
{Both parents sigh.) 

First Nun 
Now, Petrarch, mind your eye. 

Second Nun 
Fetch the canaries. 



90 



NEPTUNE'S ISLE 



{Enter Petrarch bearing a large cage covered 
with brown holland. He sets it down on the 
table at left center of stage.) 
Both Nuns 
Sing the song and chant the words; 
Bring the cages, bring the birds. 
Clip, clap, come tree, come try, 
Open the door and let them fly. 

{They remove the cage and disclose Elf kin. 
He is dressed in the costume of Hercules, 
bare arms and legs, lion skin and club. His 
hair, which is the reddest kind of carrot-hair, 
rises in a stack above his brow and then falls 
to his waist behind his shoulders. He has 
horns. Petrarch takes the cage.) 
Hugo 
A devil's own; an unholy monster; whose 
child can he be? What kind of people can they 
be who have had such a child as that? And to 
think of my handsome Elf kin! 

Elfkin 
Gettaway all, both great and small, 
Gettaway, gettaway, gettaway all! 
{Brandishes his club.) 
Petrarch 
Just like our dear boy. 

Hugo 
Petrarch, how dare you! 

Petrarch 
Excuse me, sir. 

Hugo 
Did you ever see a child so detestable! I'm 



A FAMILY QUARREL 91 

ashamed to dislike any child; but really to see 
a child so like a pig — 

Elfkin 
Yes, pigs. Go see pigs. 

Hugo 
They've trained him to imitate our lost 
beauty. 

Both Nuns 
It's well for mankind 
That parents are blind; 
For had they an eye, 
They would let their brats die. 

Hugo 
He does look a little like Elfkin. What devil- 
ish cunning! And what a horrible punishment 
that we must forever be reminded of our 
cupid by this insect. He has the manners of 
a toad. 

Second Nun 
Petrarch, fetch the other canary. 

Sylvia 
Oh, he's a darling all the same. 

(She approaches Elfkin.) 
Elfkin 
Gettaway all, both great and small, 
Gettaway, gettaway, gettaway all. 
(Brandishes his club.) 
(Enter Petrarch and sets another cage on the 
small table in right center of stage.) 
Both Nuns 
Sing the song and chant the words; 
Bring the cages, bring the birds. 



92 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

Clip, clap, come tree, come try, 
Open the door and let them fly. 

{They remove the cage and disclose Starling. 
He has a doll in his lap, a mob cap on one 
side of his head, and a Mercury staff in his 
hand. Petrarch takes the cage.) 
Sylvia 
What a cunning imp! But he's a sort of toy! 
A Greek imp, fit to hand Venus her pomatum 
pot. A bronze pair of tweezers to trim Psyche's 
lamp with. What an effeminate little angel! 
It's not a child at all. 

Hugo 
He looks like Starling. 

Sylvia 

No. Starveling! Starveling! What a poor, 

timid creature! He should be sent to play with 

the villagers. He should be taught to trap 

animals and groom horses. He should be 

hardened. He needs to live with men and boys, 

open-air life, — freedom. His poor little 

muscles are like cobwebs — and what a lack- 

a-daisical eye, like a flower that droops. 

Hadn't he any father to take him out on walks 

and make him manly? Hadn't he a father? 

( The fairy appears at the back center, standing 

on a bench. The two nuns, who have been 

standing behind the tables, now stand in 

such a way as to make a pyramidal arrange- 

ment of the personages on the stage, the 

fairy being the apex. Petrarch stands at one 

side, still holding the cages.) 



A FAMILY QUARREL 93 

Fairy 

Which of you parents was the most to blame, 
Or fed his vanity with nicer meat, 
Choosing the sensual morsel of self-pleasure 
Out of the wholesome dish of parenthood? 
Yes, ye have harmed them and have hurt your- 
selves 
By using them as comrades in your tastes. 
Was it for thee, thou rustic nobleman, 
Whose education follows the grand tour 
Of sporting seasons, to shut out the breath 
Of gentle influence from our hedge-pig here? 
Had he a mother, or was father Hodge 
Father and mother both to infant Hodge? 
And must our country's future be content 
With vistas of illimitable Hodge, — 
Unlettered offspring of unthinking sires, — 
Trundling their ignorance about our lanes 
And hiding in the hedge to shun the gaze 
Of educated men! 

(To Sylvia.) 

And thou no less! 
Because this boy resembled thee in something, 
Thou took'st him for a genius. Woe upon thee! 
Woe to the favorite child! His soul is drained 
By devils in the night, that suck him dry. 
Along his path a thousand traps are hid 
That spring in manhood, yes, in after-life. 
More men are crippled by a parent's love 
Than by the wars. Take warning, both of ye! 
Now have your eyes been opened, and ye see 
The sorry thing a favorite child may be, — 



94 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

A starved grape upon a blighted vine, — 
And how, when parents quarrel, children pine. 
Each of you is dependent on the other, 
The father is as helpless as the mother. 
It was to teach you this your children dear, 
Your children, seemed to die, and yet were here, 
Therefore rejoice! It is a rare event 
When parents are let off a punishment. 



WILFRED THE YOUNG 

A DRAGON-PLAY FOR BOYS 



CHARACTERS 
King Draco 

Claudias, a Lord, his chief counsellor 
Leo, an old philosopher, a retainer of the late King 

Cleombrotus 
Amyas 



} 

Wilfred the Young of Overseas, a Knight 
children of the late King Cleombrotus 



, servants to Leo 

EUCLID 



Thekla \ 



Dio ) 

„ > friends of the children 

Eusebia ) J 

Simeon, an old beggar 

Queen Dis, an enchantress, sister to King Draco 

Lords and Ladies, a Herald, a Pontifex, servants, 

peasants and townsfolk 

Act I, Scene i, the palace 

Act I, Scene 2, outside old St. Agnes' Chapel 

Act II, Scene i, the palace 

Act II, Scene 2, Wilfred's cabin 

Act II, Scene 3, the palace 

Act III, Scene i, Wilfred's cabin 

Act III, Scene 2, outside the Dragon's Cave 



WILFRED THE YOUNG 

ACT I 

SCENE I THE PALACE 

{The King, Claudias, and Lords.) 
King 
One hundred in a twelvemonth, youths and 

maids, 
The tender, blushing flowers of my realm 
Has this foul dragon eaten. Add to that 
The yearly tale of hero-hearted knights 
Who move in gay procession, one by one, 
In glistening hope and golden armor clad 
Against the monster's jaws, — to sanctify 
With whitening Christian bones his horrid cave. 
My kingdom is unchilded; yet you say 
The slaughter must go on. 

Claud ias 

Not so, my liege. 
I say it is a heavy ordinance 
And we lie under it. Your people all 
Grieve with your heart, and pour their tears 

with yours. 
I saw but yesterday five tragic mothers 
Bend with distracted grief above an urn 
That should have held — but could not — 
their son's ashes. 

97 



\ 



98 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

King 
Heavy, heavy. 

Claud ias 
And yet the time is near when more must go; 
Already they are chosen by the lot. 

King 
Who goes? 

Claud ias 
Euphorion and old Alcides' son 
(Two very worthless fellows, good my liege). 
And, — I forget — 'twas nobody of note. 
Ah ! Those two children of our former King, 
Cleombrotus' two children. 

King 

The lame maid 
That watches by the well ? 

Claud ias 

The same, my lord. 
King 
Heavy, heavy dues, 
That for my people's life I heavily, 
Vainly pay out. 

Claud ias 
Not vain, my lord; the sins of all are washed 
Through this most necessary sacrifice, 
Sweet in the eyes of heaven. 

King 
Hath not the maid a brother that she tends ? 

Claudias 
An idiot boy, my lord — 

King 

The lot falls hard. 



WILFRED THE YOUNG 99 

Claud ias 
The lot falls true, my liege. 
They are the children of your enemy, 
And with them dies a claim upon the throne. 
For though but few dare say so, some dare 

think, 
This idiot boy shall one day wear the crown, 
And that no children shall be born to you 
While this boy lives. Therefore, dear sir, I say 
The finger of God's providence is here, 
Condemning traitors. 

King 
{Who has been nodding with mechanical and 

sad assent, now looks piously toward heaven.) 
So may it prove! 

Claud ias. {To the rest.) 
The King is sad; he suffers for the poor. 
The orphan's prayer unmans him, holy man. 
Shall we not fetch some joy, some merriment 
To shake the oppressive rancor of his thoughts? 

{To King.) 
Good sir, be comforted; what human fate 
Was e'er exempt from human suffering, — 
From error, evil, accident, disease, — 
The tolls we pay in passing Cerberus 
To reach the Elysian Fields ? What man grows 

old, 
Nay, reaches middle life without the loss 
Of child, or maiden wife, or early hope? 
And if his limbs are sound, 'tis but a mask; 
His teeth, his hair, his talk, betray the tax. 
So of our kingdom's curse, this dragon-pest, 



ioo NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

That eats our children; if he ate them not, 
Would they not die of small-pox, perish in 

wars, 
Which, God be praised, we know not in this 

age 
Under the even justice of our King? 

King 
Enough, good Claudias. I will be ruled. 

Claud ias. {To the others.) 
You hear, he will be ruled. 

{Murmurs of approval.) 
First Courtier 
Will your Majesty be as merry as at the last 
tournament? 

Second Courtier 
Shall we have sports again, your Majesty? 

Claudias 
Aye, he consents. {Murmurs of approval.) 

Third Courtier 
More sports, O Jupiter, what joy! 

First Courtier 
There's a new youth come to try his skill at 
a game of jack-straws with the dragon before 
the cave on Wednesday morning. There'll be 
some sport in that. 

Second Courtier 
He comes from over sea and calls himself 
Wilfred. 

Third Courtier. {To King.) 
I have a petition to your Majesty; it is that 
no one shall be allowed to wear mourning for 
more than three weeks for any brother, child, 



WILFRED THE YOUNG 101 

father, grandfather, or sweetheart eaten by the 
dragon. It spoils all sport, this weeping; and 
for what? Old relatives that — 

A Voice 
I have some that I could spare. {Laughter.) 

King 

Nay, gentlemen, hear me. It shall be as 
you desire. But first, to still some clamors of 
the people, and perhaps too of mine own con- 
science, I have sent to consult old Leoncino the 
philosopher. 

First Courtier 

I thought he was dead long ago. 

Second Courtier. 
Not dead, but under ground. He lives in 
the crypt under St. Agnes' Chapel. They will 
hardly be able to find him among the other 
bones. 

Third Courtier 
What, the tutor to the late tyrant's children ? 

A Voice 
A harmless old menial! 

King 

Softly, softly, gentlemen. I have thought 
well to consult him; and I beg you to treat 
him with respect when he comes. 

First Courtier 
Certainly, your Majesty. 

Second Courtier 
We will treat him, your Majesty, with such 
courteous contempt as the silken wolf-hound 



102 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

shows to the toothless old St. Bernard who 
limps out of his kennel at the smell of bread 
crumbs. {Laughter.) 

Claud ias 
Beware, spaniels! Old dogs bite. 

A Voice 
Old dogs never bite puppies. {Laughter.) 

Servant. {Announcing.) 
Leo, the philosopher, waits upon your High- 
ness for an audience. 

King 
Bid him come in. 

Third Courtier 
It is the first act in the new revels ! 
{Enter Leo, supported by his servants Amyas 
and Euclid. He is a very old man and blinks 
at the light.) 

King 
Leo, although thy leaning to our rule 
Has not been loyal, we have suffered thee 
To live unvexed within our palace walls, 
Nursing the past, because thou wast a noble, 
And thine attachment to mine uncle's kin 
Most natural. 

Claud ias 

It was an act, my lord, 
More like the sovereign clemency of God 
Than human mildness! 

King 
{With a gesture commanding silence to Claudias.) 

Had I been cruel, 
The path of justice pointed to the block. 



WILFRED THE YOUNG 103 

Leo. {To his servants.) 
What says he? 

King 
Justice, old Leo, justice required your death. 

Leo. {To his servants.) 
My eyes are dim: I cannot read the word. 

First Courtier 
This is the oldest owl in Thrace. {Laughter.) 

King 

Silence! Claudias, make clear the antechamber. 

{Claudias does so in dumb show.) 
Shall I be obeyed ! 

{Exeunt courtiers.) 

{To the servants.) Give him a chair. Go, 
Claudias with the rest. 
I have a thread in this old ruffian's life 
Which none of you doth share. 
{Exit Claudias.) 

He cannot speak. 
Too many listening presences oppress him. 
Darken the chamber, so. {They do so.) 

A candle there! 
{A lighted candle is brought.) 

See, it restores him: he is easier. 
Speak to him, some of you whose voice he 
knows. 

Amyas 
Master, what see you ? 

{To the King.) Only thus he talks, 
By talking to himself. You must not speak. 
Master, how goes your dreaming? 



104 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

Leo 

Things to me 
Before they happen are as clearly seen 
As in a silver midnight clouds are bright. 
But when the daylight dawns and shows the 

deed 
My eyes are blinded. 

King. {Aside.) 
Good. I'll use my own 

To see what's in the world, and yours, good Leo, 
Shall tell us what's to come. 

{To servant.) Urge him, Amyas. 
Hush, he begins. 

Leo 
I saw the heavens ablaze with countersigns, 
Flags signaling, and armies in the sky. 
Arcturus draws his arrow to the head; 
And o'er the dragon's cavern on the hill 
A starry pageant shines. 

King. {Aside.) 

The dragon's fate! 
This is the very key to all my fears. 
For I do fear my dynasty doth stand 
Upon the life and tenure of the dragon; 
And if the dragon die, — 

Leo 

A robe of fire 
Enwraps a many-pinnacled pavilion 
Or casket-shaped cathedral made of light; 
And, from the furry fringes of the robe, 
Low-hanging lamps attend the evening star 
Across our hilltop — 



WILFRED THE YOUNG 105 

King 

Show me, show me, Leo! 

Leo 

Who be you ? 

King. {After a moment's pause.) 
I am your ancient master, your good friend, 
Cleombrotus, whose children you brought up. 
The King Cleombrotus — 

Leo 

Cleombrotus! 

King. {Aside.) 
I must deceive him or he will not speak. 
{To Leo.) Cleombrotus, your master. 

Leo 

Is it thou ? 
I have awaited thee, O Master mine! 
Be it in the spirit, or beyond the world, 
Where past and future mingle, I behold 
Thee and thy children, not as now they are, 
But radiant, restored, and re-established: 
The rightful rulers of a happy race. 
And this last filthy tyrant swept away! 

{Amy as and Euclid fall on their knees.) 
Amyas 
Mercy, your Highness! Hold us not to blame 
For these unmeaning ravings of old age. 
We knew it not! Nor are accountable. 
No more is he, nor spoke not so before, 
But ever praised your Highness' nobleness; 
And this bad, frothy treason on his lips 
Portends his coming death. 



io6 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

King 

Silence, you fools! 
To hear this secret have I fatted him, 
And starved myself. Which dog of you shall bark 
Dies by my hand. And, but I dare not stir, 
I'd kill you now for pastime. Make him go on. 

Amyas 
What do you see, my lord ? 

Euclid 
Aye, father dear, what vision do you see? 

Leo 
My master, the old King, in apparition, 
Shedding his benediction over me. 
Ye cannot see him! O thou glorious truth, 
That shin'st alone upon the eye of faith, 
Seeming but mock and laughter to the world; 
Yet being life and substance to all else, 
The bone and basis of reality. 
Cleombrotus, the end of ill draws nigh. 
The dragon sickens, and his meted life 
Clanks to its close. 

King. {In a constrained voice?) 
How so? What dragon mean you? For to us 
Who live in limbo, no news penetrates, 
And, save the straggling beams that light a 

dungeon, 
Shards of a broken world, we know no news. 

Leo 
News, wouldst thou, news? Thou knowest 
nothing? 

King 
Nothing except the tomb. 



WILFRED THE YOUNG 107 

Leo 

O grisly fate! 
Thou who didst make thy children into gods, 
How canst thou hear their present sufferings 
Without a heart-break! Thekla, thy sweet girl, 
That hung upon the brink of maidenhood 
Enamoring the current stream of the world 
With her unconscious petals, was shot through 
With Phoebus' shaft. She sickened to a stalk, 
And now, a crook-back, hobbles through the 

streets. 
The unpaved alleys know her, and those banks 
Where peasant women knit along the quay. 
Mothers do wince to watch the little maid, 
Holding her rag of broken motherhood 
Above thy witless son. 

King 

Oh very piteous! 
Came there a dragon after I had died? 

Leo 

A dragon? Yes, thy murderer the King, 
The false and wicked Draco. With him came 
His soul that is a dragon; and that soul 
Assumed its visible shape, and on our hill 
Burrowed its horrid cave. That frightful beast 
Is Draco's soul. It lives and dies in him; 
And when it dies, dies Draco. 

King. {Aside.) 

There spake God! 
There fell the ax, the thunder-stroke of truth. 
I dreamed of this! I knew it, I have guessed it: 
And, but I had the wit to find this out, 



io8 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

Here had I perished; but I vow to heaven 
That dragon shall not die! 

Say, ancient man - — 
{He checks himself and assumes the proper tone.) 
Father, most reverend sir, most holy friend, 
Tell me once more. That dragon, shall he die? 

Leo 
His conqueror doth stand without the gate! 
And his black vitals shall bedew the ground 
Outside his cave. 

King. {With fury.) 

And I say they shall not! 
Ho! bar the door! 

{Enter men-at-arms.) 
Take this old fool to his kennel. 

{To Amy as and Euclid.) Not you two! 
Ye must be housed awhile with me, my friends, 
To see what thrift is found within your skins. 
Sharing kings' secrets is a serious game, 
Though played by innocent men. 

{To guard.) Take them away. 
Thus do I save my life and keep my state: 
Foreknowledge makes us masters of our fate. 



ACT I 

SCENE II 

( The outside of old St. Agnes' Chapel, a decayed 

Gothic building in the suburbs. Wilfred in 

armor. He is sitting on a bench or an old 

tombstone^) 

Wilfred 
Here have I watched since midnight; now the 

dawn 
Turns on his pillow, and gray, ancient walls 
Unfold their welcome to the morning air. 
Surely some guidance led me to the spot, 
So near I feel to God and to my quest. 
But that his name stands writ among the 

damned, 
I should account King Draco a good king; 
Yet in the trumpet-call that brought me here, 
Tongues of despair out-clanged the voice of 

God 
In curses on him. Strange how kind men are, — 
Everywhere curtesy and kind approach; 
The dragon is not known save where he's not, — 
Abroad, and in the books; but in his home 
Half of the folk has never heard of him. 
And yet they have. To find him, that's my 

quest. 
I saw an honest face in the market-place, 

109 



no NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

A sort of nun or convent waiting-maid, 
One whom I thought to ask, and then I lost 

her. 
But she comes again, — 

(An angel walks across the stage and goes into 
the church. Wilfred is about to speak to 
her, but does not.) • 
A very decent person — I spoke not 
Because she wore some business on her brow 
That robed her looks in action. Some good 

deed 
Shone in her face and rolled before her feet, 
As rolls the wave before Aurora's tread, 
Purple yet arrowed through with Phoebus' shots, 
Thick-falling from the god behind the dawn. 
A nun, no doubt, and this a nunnery. 

(He sits a moment in contemplation, then rises 
slowly, draws his sword, and plants it, 
hilt up, a little toward the back of the stage. 
He kneels before the sword on both knees, his 
hands clasped stiffly before him, his helmet 
beside him, like a crusader. Enter Thekla 
and Dio. Thekla is a child of twelve, on 
crutches; she is dressed in a tattered shawl. 
Dio is a child of three. They have some 
roadside flowers.) 

Thekla 
Hold them tighter, Dio, — thus, — both hands. 
Dear father Leo wants them for his cell; 
The picture wants them, where the candles are, 
And all the stony men who stand so still, 
To watch us in the chapel. Saints love flowers, 



WILFRED THE YOUNG m 

And flowers, though they be weeds, are baby's 

friends. 
No, I say! Hold them so! — What ails the child? 
He was so good, he grew so well again, 
And seemed so sensible; he grew so wise; 
The dandelion, buttercup, and clover 
He would pull up and name them like a book; 
And yesterday, this sprig of bridal-wreath 
He found and brought and wound it in my 

hair; 
But now he wanders, he is lost again 
And drops his blossoms! Dio! Baby Dio! 

Dio. {Holding up his hand.) 
Hark! 

Thekla 
What, baby? 

Music! 

Thekla 
Oh heavens, there is no music! This he doth 
Before the fit shall seize him. Dio, Dio, 
Thekla will hold him. Come to sister Thekla. 

Dio. {Pushes her away.) 
Hush! Music! 

Thekla 
There is no music, darling. {Weeps.) 

Wilfred. {Aside.) 
What roadside flowerets, trodden in the dust, 
That show like angels in their inner shrine, 
And yet so crushed. 

{To Thekla.) What is it, little miss? 
What makes you clutch the child? 



Dio 



ii2 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

Thekla 

His mind is gone. 
He was so well; and father Leo says 
He surely will get well, but all his fit 
Ever comes on him in the thought of music. 
His silly brains hear music in the air. 

Wilfred 
Aye, but there's music. Music! I hear music. 
Music there is, sweet maid; be sure of that. 
(Music is now heard for the first time, pianis- 
simo. The knight takes Dio on his knee 
and sits on the stone bench, or gravestone, 
next to Thekla.) 
There is more sense in him than in thyself, 
Thou trustful little witch. His eye is bright; 
But thou hast watched too long beside his cot. 
Who are ye both? Stray village sufferers, — 

Thekla 
They say we are the children of a king, 
But I believe it not, — 

Wilfred 

King's children beg? 
Thekla 
Nay, we beg not: old Leo gives us bread, 
Sometimes bright silver bits to buy us shoes, 
And we are lodged with Dame Eusebia. 

Wilfred 
Old Leo is your friend ? 

Thekla 

Why, without him 
We must have starved. But he is very rich 
And very good; and we are his dependents, 



WILFRED THE YOUNG 113 

His children or his kin, I know not which. 
We are well cared for: why what can we lack? 
If Dio's well, then all the world is well, 
And we are happy. Dio, Dio. 

(Kisses the child.) 
Will you grow well again ? 

(To Wilfred.) He was a baby, 
So fat and round; and then he grew so thin, 
And then his wits went wrong; he could not 

walk. 
Old Leo lays his hands upon our heads, 
And prays us well. 

Wilfred 

The lad is well enough. 
Thekla 
Bless God! 

(She kneels towards the church and makes the 
sign of the cross, instructing the child to do 
likewise.) 

Wilfred. (Aside.) 
Lo, we knight-errants run about the world 
To find adventures, while the sacred poor 
Crouch at our gates at home. Such birds as 

these 
Hop on the village greens of every land, 
And chivalry not feeds them. What's a knight? 
Is he not one to whom the Saviour's blood, 
Unless a gold-encrusted, crystal cup 
Inclose it as a relic, seems unclean? 
Is he not one who draws his strength to fight 
From silken banners in a gallery? 
Whom undergoing vanity sustains 



1 1 4 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

To do a prodigy before a king 

But wants the nerve alone? A dragon, said I? 

Yes, on a Festa, all the world to see 

And I the hero! Folly, pettiness! 

Yet o'er land and sea 
Thousands of leagues have I o'er coursed the 

earth 
To find what was at home. 

(Starts up.) 

But I have found it! 
I will adopt these children as my own : 
I'll put them in my shield, with the device, 
"This is my blood." 

(To Thekla.) Tell me, thou little woman, 
This Leo kind is old. 

Thekla 

Oh very old. 
Wilfred 
And he may die. 

Thekla 

Oh no, he will not die. 
Wilfred 
Come here. Take Dio's hand. He is my child. 
I do adopt him. I adopt you both. 
Place his hands thus in mine; he is my thrall. 
Now yours; I take you too. Now one of each. 
Old Leo when he comes shall bless the act, 
And call a stronger blessing down from heaven. 
It is most comfortable to have children. 

(He sits on the bench, holding the hand of each. 
The door of the church opens, the music grows 
louder, and enter Eusebia, Cephas, and one or 



WILFRED THE YOUNG 115 

two more citizens; then four bearing a bier 
on which is the body of Leo.) 
Thekla 
O father Leo, father Leo! 

(She throws herself upon the bier, sobbing. 
When the newcomers perceive Wilfred, the 
bier is set down.) 

Cephas 
Sir Knight, I know not if ye meet us here 
With ill intent, or as a Christian friend. 

Wilfred 
Truly, how Christian is not mine to say; but 
as a friend. 

Cephas 
Be ye of the court? 

Wilfred 

Not so. A visitor. 
Wilfred the Young, a knight from over seas. 

Cephas 
Know ye the children? 

Wilfred 

They are my thralls : I have adopted them. 

(The mourners whisper.) 

Eusebia 

(Who has her arms about Thekla.) 

Know ye their history? 

Wilfred 

I somewhat know it. 
You are Eusebia, as I read your face. 

Eusebia 
Lo, the awaited saint who meets us here 
Through the foreknowing providence of God! 



n6 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

Offend him not, good Cephas, he is good: 
The children trust him, and I saw a ray 
Fall, as from heaven, upon the dead man's 
face. 
( The angel has followed in at the head of the 
corpse, but is noticed by no one.) 
Wilfred 
Believe me, I'll not harm ye. 

Cephas 

Good Sir Knight, 
We must with expedition bury him; 
For our permission runs for early dawn, 
And charges that the utmost secrecy 
Shall cloud the earthing of this good old man. 
More I'll dare tell ye when he's in the ground. 
Follow our steps. On, comrades, while we 

may. 
Night buries grief. Joy cometh with the day. 
{Exeunt mourners in procession. The angel 
follows at the head of the bier. Wilfred and 
the two children bring up the rear. Enter 
from another quarter Claudias and a Herald. 
They put up notices on the buildings.) 
Claudias 
Blow and collect the people. 

{Herald blows. Old Simeon, a beggar, comes 
in.) 
Where are the people? Where is Cephas? 
Herald, blow again. 

{Herald blows. More people, and many of 
them, come in.) 
Herald, read the proclamation! 



WILFRED THE YOUNG 117 

Herald 
King Draco, by the grace of God, to all 
his loving people: Out of the great care his 
Majesty has for the safety and good of his 
people, it is DECREED that Two Great Walls 
shall be built from the city to the Dragon's 
Cave. So that no citizen shall approach the 
Dragon or go near his cave except by per- 
mission of the King. 

ALSO, to prevent young knights from being 
killed by the Dragon, it is DECREED that any 
knight wishing to fight the Dragon must apply 
at the King's palace for permission. 
Long live King Draco! 

The People 
Long live King Draco ! 

Simeon 
Long live the Dragon! 

Claud ias 
What do you mean, old man? 

Simeon 
I say that by this proclamation the King has 
given the Dragon a nice garden wall to his 
house. It will save our journey up the hill. We 
can throw the children into the paddock and let 
the Dragon eat them in his after-dinner walk. 
Claudias. {To Herald.) 
Who is that mad-man? 

Herald 
It is old Simeon, my lord. He is not in his 
wits or he should have been banished with the 
rest long ago. 



n8 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

Claud ias 
Proceed with the proclamation. Blow again! 
{Herald blows.) Read the proclamation. 

Herald 
A Tournament! King Draco, out of his 
great love and tender care for his people's hap- 
piness, and because there has of late been too 
much grief in the land, has Proclaimed a Week 
of Merrymaking, at the close of which a 
Great Tournament will be held. You are 
therefore commanded to put off all signs of 
mourning and repair to your homes, and, dress- 
ing yourselves in festival attire, to give your- 
selves up to Joy and Feasting. Long live 
King Draco! 

Simeon 
I say long live the Dragon. It is now for- 
bidden for any mother to weep. Long live 
the Dragon. 

Claud ias. (To Herald.) 
Have that man sent to the palace. He is in 
need of something. Herald, proceed. 

Herald 
For one week, beginning Tuesday following, 
free food and drink will be given to all citizens 
who repair to the outer booths at the Old Lists. 
Long live King Draco! 

People. (With real enthusiasm.) 

Long live King Draco! 
Claud ias. (To Herald.) 
Now, Herald, to the market! Cephas! Let 
us find Cephas. 



WILFRED THE YOUNG 119 

{Amid the huzzahing and waving of caps 
Claudias and the Herald exeunt. Enter 
Wilfred, deep in conversation with Cephas. 
The other mourners follow in and mingle 
with the populace. Eusebia keeps Thekla 
and Dio in her charge.) 

Cephas 
To save our city's name, we long have tried 
To choose the fated children out by lot, 
And secretly convey them to the cave. 

Wilfred 
O miserable men! Your King consents 
To have your children eaten? 

Cephas 

He has tried. 

{Appeals to citizens.) 
Has not King Draco done his best to save ? 

{There is no answer.) 
Have not young knights gone forth? 

Simeon 
And ne'er come back. 

First Woman 
Two of my boys — 

Second Woman 
My baby boy of five. 

Third Woman 
All, all of mine. 

Cephas 
The King is good, but cannot stop the plague. 

Simeon 
The plague takes not the rich. 



120 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

First Woman 

The King is safe, 
He has no children. . 

Wilfred. {Aside.) 
Yet the nobles say there is no dragon. 

{To Cephas.) 
Now they send them up, 
Chosen by lot, you say? Who draws the lots? 

Cephas 
The King's own officers, his trusted men. 
We have, Sir Knight, a compact with the 

Dragon, 
By computation keeping down his due 
To just and certain bounds — four boys a 
month. 

Wilfred 
Four boys a month ! 

Cephas 
No more, Sir Knight. 
'Tis fixed and certain: and his Majesty 
Hath staked his honor more shall not be sent, 
Nor this appointed number overdrawn, 
While stands his kingdom. In King Draco's 

word 
Lies our protection. 

Wilfred 

Sacred name of God, 
Is this protection ? An anointed king 
Feeds his own subjects to the cruel jaw, 
And it is named protection. Stand ye off! 
Ye are polluted all of you with crime: 
Ye, ye yourselves do give your babes to death. 



WILFRED THE YOUNG 121 

{To Cephas.) 
And thou, unreverend man, that tremblest here, 
Thou art a pandar. 

Simeon 

There spoke the truth. 
First Woman. {Kneels.) 
Save us, Sir Knight, we cannot save ourselves. 
{The citizens begin to cluster and kneel about 
the knight.) 

Second Woman 
{Whispering hoarsely and vehemently.) 
If any quail, his children go the next, 
And if a man speak out against the dragon, 
He disappears and leaves no word behind. 

Third Woman 
We are betrayed, Sir Knight, and very weak, 
We know not how to fight. Thou art a youth 
Scarce a day older than my eldest boy, 
Who went to fight but as a peasant can, 
And died in the deadly cave. 

First Woman 

Oh judge us not, 
But help us, holy sir. 

Wilfred 

So God me help, 
As I here dedicate my utmost strength 
To save this people. 

Second Woman 

Harkee, more's to come. 
These proclamations and festivities 
Go with new slaughters. It is always so; 
The lot fell yesterday; but some delay 



122 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

Has kept the dragon hungry. For at dawn 
I saw two smoky columns in the sky. 
At noon he'll breakfast in the market-place 
Unless he's fed before. 

Wilfred 

Nay, that he'll not! 
Trust me but with the knowledge of this beast, 
And I ere sunset will deliver him 
Dead in the market-place, and stuck with flags 
To make your burghers cry, "a barbecue." 
Ye are enchanted, all of you, I think; 
The smell of his foul breath is over ye, 
Which with the fumigation of new courage 
Will soon be blown away. Your hand, good 

friends, 
For this cause am I come. 

{They cluster about Wilfred and grasp his 
hand.) 

Herald. {Without.) 
Cephas, where is Cephas ? 

A Voice 
Cephas is called. 

{Enter CI audi as and Herald.) 
Claud ias 
Cephas, the King, in honor of the feast 
Lately proclaimed, makes thee a Minister. 
Cephas, the People's Friend, receive this chain. 
King Draco loves thee well. 
{Cephas kneels while Claudias places a gold chain 
about his neck; he then rises. The people 
have been clustering about Claudias and the 
Herald and have left the knight alone. Shouts 



WILFRED THE YOUNG 123 

of u Cephas, long live Cephas! Cephas, your 
hand! Bravo!" etc. Cephas is clapped on 
the back and surrounded.) 
Cephas 
I thank his Majesty, and I thank you all. 
I'll serve you all, aye all, the lowliest born, 
The peasant, burgher, prince, the Crown itself: 
To all the realm I'll be a faithful servant. 

Simeon 
And to the Dragon! Don't forget the Dragon! 
{Wilfred, who has been looking on in silence, 
and with curiosity, now moves across and 
talks to the beggar in dumb show.) 
Claud ias 
The King confers this title on thee, Cephas: 
"Executor of the Crown and People's Tribune, 
Having the rank of Herald, and the right 
To stand in the royal presence." 
'Tis thy function to read the lots aloud. 

{The Herald now presents an ugly, crape- 
covered, oblong box, and holds it while 
Cephas opens it.) 

Simeon. {To Wilfred.) 
This is the ceremony every month. 
The names he reads are children that must 
die. 

Wilfred. {Stepping forward.) 
Stand back! Go tell your King that none shall 

die; 
A knight shall fight the dragon. 

Claudias 

Please you, sir, 



124 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

This kingdom must go on, though knights may 

fight. 
Until the dragon fall, he must be fed. 
'Tis ever so: our customs call for it. 
Good stranger Knight, whose case of brilliant 

steel 
Nobly reports a son of chivalry, 
Wait till the tribune speaks. 
{To Cephas.) Cephas, say on. 

Wilfred. {Interrupting.) 
This man a tribune! 

Cephas 
Good sir, a word! We but fulfil the law. 

Wilfred 
Thou'lt read the names of children that must die ! 

Cephas 
It is the law. 

Wilfred 

Thou whited sepulchre! 

{Strikes Cephas in the mouth with the back of 
his hand. Screams of women and confu- 
sion.) 

Claud ias. {To soldiers without.) 
Arrest him! 

Wilfred 
Thou wilt arrest a knight? Thou paper doll! 
Let any man approach within a yard, 
And I will kill him. 

{The people and soldiers fall back. Wilfred 
checks his fury.) 

Why, may God forgive me. 
I 'most had slain thee. Nay, what foolish game 



WILFRED THE YOUNG 125 

Is this ye play, good people, with your straws, 
Like children in a barnyard? Should I strike, 
My honor were disgraced, and nothing done. 
I will not fret you : let the play go on. 
It will not hurt. But this I swear to you — 
No children more shall die. 

Claud ias 

A sensible conclusion. 

{Confidentially to Wilfred.) 

A popular and ancient custom here, 

And interests strangers. 

{The people cluster about Cephas and the 
Herald. After some passings of the box, 
and symbolic formalities, Cephas, with great 
solemnity, draws and reads.) 

Cephas 
"Euphorion and old Alcides' son." 

First Woman 
My Zeno's safe, praise God ! 
Run, run and tell papa our Zeno's safe. 
{Sends off small boy.) 

Cephas. {To Claudias, genially.) 
The lot has taken those we well can spare. 

Second Woman 
O Baranbas, I have thee still. 

{Hugging her child. The citizens begin to 
chatter to each other and to shake hands.) 

A Voice 
Come now, here's peace for a month at 

least. 
Let's to the booth outside the new lists. 



126 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

Simeon 
Fools, there are more names to be read. 
{To Cephas.) Read the list, Cephas! 

{The people cluster once more about Cephas 
and the Herald with intense silent excite- 
ment. Cephas tries to read, but dares not.) 
Wilfred. {Fiercely to Cephas.) 

Read! 
Cephas 
Thekla and Dio. 

Wilfred 
Liar! 

{As he says this, Wilfred takes a stride forward 
and raises his sword over Cephas, who drops 
the paper and falls on his knees. Claudias 
swings off the cloak from the Herald and 
casts it over Cephas.) 

Claudias 
Art thou a knight and wilt thou strike a Herald ? 

Wilfred 
He's no Herald ! 

Claudias 
Aye, he's a Herald; his commission throws 
The Herald's sanctity about his acts. 
And in the name of chivalry I rear 
This holy symbol o'er him. 

{Raises a cross. All kneel.) 
Wilfred 
Nay, I'll not kneel to thee. Thou art a devil. 
{Cries of the people, many speaking at once: 
u He kneels not to the cross." " Away with 
him ! " H He's a spy ! " tc He is an enemy ! " 



WILFRED THE YOUNG 127 

"Curse him." u My boy is bewitched that 
he spoke to last evening" "He hath stolen 
two children, now he would save them for 
himself" " He would make himself King" 
etc. Thekla and Dio run to Wilfred and 
cling to his legs.) 

Simeon. (To Wilfred aside.) 

Kneel, you were best, like me : it is no harm. 
Wilfred. (To all.) 

Move not a step, but hear me! He that stirs 
(Gazing about and addressing all.) 

Shall die in his footprints! By my faith in 
God, 

It's not the cross I spurn, but those who raise it; 

Nor do I fight a dragon, but a King! 

Draco, King Draco, is your enemy; 

And in his hideous heart he hates you all 

And eats your children. Draco I do fight. 

Bear him this challenge, Herald. 

(Flings down his glove at Herald's feet.) 

Now go home — 

And in the supplication of the closet 

Ask God to give you light. 

(The Herald picks up the gauntlet, and all go 
out dispersedly and slowly, Claudias giving 
whispered directions to Cephas. Wilfred is 
thus left alone with the children. There is a 
pause.) 

Wilfred 

What, have they gone and left us, little maid? 

They could not help thee: they being gone 
away, 



128 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

Ye are more safe; for they are enemies, 

Who hide the devil in a cloak of lies 

Till conscience cannot find him. They are gone. 

And if our strength be true to swing the sword, 

And if our eye be clear to see the helm, 

It is because false friends have dropped away, 

And we are near to action. Rise, fond heart, 

The time is come to play the hero's part. 



ACT II 

SCENE I THE ROYAL PALACE 

(The King, Claudias, and other courtiers. 
The glaive is on the floor.) 

King 

Marvelous ! And the knight doth challenge me ? 

It is as easy kill him as let kill. 

Old Leo's prophecies establish us: 

My life is charmed, and while the dragon lives 

I cannot die. We'll fight the saucy boy! 

This Tournament shall show a king in arms. 

Claud ias 
It is a serious youth, not too well-bred; 
But if he fight as nimbly as he talks, 
Will keep you dancing. 'Twould have made 

you laugh. 
The children clung, and Cephas prayed, and 

Wilfred Overseas 
Made such a ranting and a foam of words 
As would have drowned a church. 
First Courtier 

And Claudias? 
Claudias 
Why Claudias kept his temper and the glaive; 
And ducked to dodge the flood. 

(Laughter. A sound as of distant thunder is 
heard.) 

129 



i 3 o NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

King 

What sound was that? 

Second Courtier 
How strangely dark it grows, 
As if some ghostly fingers snuffed the sun ! 

Claud ias 

{Looking out of the window.) 

This darkness runs before our thunderstorms, 

And sheds a sheeted pallor o'er the earth. 

A gust of summer tempest; — straws and 

sticks 
Flee from the bailiff wind like creditors; 
The peasant's wash, uncounted, skyward soars, 
Flecking the black, while all his family, 
Hens, pigs, and colts, the master and the 

maid, 
Run to the shed, half carried by the blast. 
The storm doth make his progress like a god; 
Dust in a column rides his axle-tree, 
And cataracts of water crash behind. 
King Zeus rides by! 

{The storm has been increasing through the 
speech.) 

King 

Do not jest at it. 
Darkness at noontide. 

First Courtier 

Aye, it bodes no good. 
{Enter servant in terror.) 
Servant 
Between the river and the mountain-side, 
Skimming the level ocean of ripe wheat, 



WILFRED THE YOUNG 131 

I saw Queen Dis: above her chariot 

She stands a statue, while four plunging steeds, 

All ebon black and tusked with ivory, 

Plow toward your palace. I, upon the tower, 

Have seen and shuddered : therefore, let me go. 

Claud ias. {To another courtier.) 
The man is sick with terror. Give him drink. 
{The servant is helped out.) 
King 
My sister the enchantress! Close the gate! 
{Enter servant, running.) 
Servant 
Idle, my lord; the porter is struck dead! 
A bolt of lightning, that same forked flash. 
{Another flash.) 

The gate is wedged : no power on earth can 
budge it. 

King 
I will not see her. She is horrible 
And comes in horror. Claudias, your hand. 
Servant. {Without, announcing.) 

Queen Dis. 
{Enter Queen Dis.) 
King 
Sister, your coming is unheralded. 

Queen Dis 
Save by my flashes, brother. Can you not 
Instruct your knaves in hospitality? 
Two of them have their lesson. These my 

servants 
Must in the amber chamber leave this casket, 
And then no more annoy you. 



i 3 2 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

{Enter two servants with a very precious, pecu- 
liar-looking box, which they carry across the 
stage and exeunt.) 

For my steeds, 
They pant the fiery path towards Erebus 
For safer stabling. 

King 

You will stay with us ? 
Queen Dis 
An hour, two hours, a week — the Tournament. 
When I have access to explain my plans, 
I will acquaint you — 

(Claudias and the courtiers take the hint and 
go off, shrugging.) 

King 
{Aside to Claudias, shaking his hand.) 

Do not go far. 
{To Queen.) Sister, you ride in the storm. 

Queen Dis 
Brother, you ride in the storm and know it not. 
It is to save you I am come at all. 
You are in danger, and your kingdom rocks 
As in an earthquake. You yourself are sick, 
Dizzy, diseased, defenceless, a sure prey 
To powers too subtle for your intellect 
That cut your life at the root. 

King 
Can you not talk in the daylight? 

Queen Dis 

These thick winds 
And darkened sky afflict you as they should. 
Terror; 'tis terror! I am terrified; 



WILFRED THE YOUNG 133 

I Dis, queen, goddess, deathless as I am, 
Horror doth ride me; and the outward storm 
Is but the symbol. One is in the field. 
A knight has taken up the children's cause 
And we are doomed. 

King 
A knight? A paltry boy 
That for his challenge shall receive his death. 
Give it no thought, my sister. 

Queen Dis 

O thou fool! 
That fight'st against a spirit with a sword. 
Know then, these children live by others' faith. 
Old Leo's thought and prayer kept them alive. 
Now, on the very dot of Leo's death, 
Arises this young knight who lights his faith 
At Leo's dying torch. Now they rebloom 
And leap like salmon, strong as antelopes 
That snuff the upland breeze in Africa, 
Drawing their life from him. 

King 
But I will kill this knight. 

Queen Dis 

Too late, too late. 
The seed's upon the wind, the voice has echo'd, 
The spark has spread; the people catch the flame. 

King 
But if he die? 

Queen Dis 

What matter if he die? 
Thou foolish one, his body we may kill, 
But not his life. But hark! 



i 3 4 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

(Going very near to the King, to his manifest 
horror, and speaking vehemently.) 
We must destroy his soul; so dies his power. 
That power afflicts thee now, and stroke on 

stroke 
Is falling on my head, and my short arm 
Pains night and day in crucial agony. 

(She draws aside her shawl and shows that in 
the place of her left hand and arm she has the 
claw of a dragon.) 
The fury of that pain 

Shines in the storm, as with my will I move 
Whirlwinded through the air. 

King 
Horrible woman! 

Queen Dis 

Horrid; because I know 
What you would be without the knowledge 

of! 
Goddess, enchantress, devil; for I am 
But disenchanted from those spells of life 
That weave enchantment over everyone, 
The filmy web of good-and-evil-mixed. 

(Showing her claw.) 
There is my evil. Yours is everywhere. 
You will obey me? 

King 
(After long pause and very reluctantly.) 
Yes. 

Queen Dis 
(Giving a sigh of relief.) 
Else were we both undone. 



WILFRED THE YOUNG 135 

Have you three minutes, ere those fops come 

back, 
To hear my project? 

King 
{Who is sitting down, nods in a disconsolate 
manner.) 

Queen Dis 
How shall I say it? Not for many years, 
Not since the old King, father of these babes, 
Brought me to court here as their governess, — 
Not since Cleombrotus — 

King 

Don't tell it me. 
It is too horrible. 

{King covers his face with his hands; she pro- 
ceeds.) 

Queen Dis 

I am in love, 
I am in love with Wilfred Overseas, 

{The King shudders convulsively.) 
And he with me — 

King 
And he with thee! 

Queen Dis 

Not yet; 
But in the dawn my soul did visit him. 
Hark, I was crawling with a panther's step 
About the children's cottage; and a sword 
This way and that way turned to keep me off, 
As if invisible walls of light were there, 
Guarding the children, and my eye beheld 
Wilfred, a burnished angel at his elbow, 



136 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

That could not fence my eye from piercing his. 

(She approaches the King, speaking rapidly.) 
Let him be wounded at the Tournament. 
A drop of blood, a scratch is all I ask; 
And to his veins I'll pour the venom in 
Shall make him love me. He must not be killed; 
Scratched, or disabled merely. Do you hear? 

King. (Nods) 
It shall be as you say. 

Queen Dis 
Call back your courtiers, brother. 

King. (Rings.) 
Bid the Lords attend her Majesty. 
(Enter Claudias and the rest.) 
Queen Dis 

How soon the day 
Has changed to sunlight! Lords, I ask your 

pardon 
For my unruly entrance. Women ever 
Must have their whims : and that same thunder- 
storm 
Gave me a headache. Claudias, 

(He kneels.) Nay, your hand — 
And now for pleasaunce and all jollity. 



ACT II 

scene ii. — Wilfred's cabin 

{Wilfred and the children. They are now clean, 
handsome, nicely dressed. Thekla has no 
crutch, Dio no sign of mental peculiarity.) 
Wilfred 
Now, children, you must not be afraid; for I 
must leave you for a while and go to the palace. 
I have challenged this dreadful King and I shall 
kill him — and then — then 

Dio 
The Dragon — 

Wilfred 
The Dragon of course. I shall then have 
time to go and see if there is any dragon left. 
You must be good and wait for me. 

Thekla 
Oh we'll be good — 

Wilfred 
And that nice woman is going to take care of 
you, the nun woman who met us in the grave- 
yard. She will be here, and keep you clean 
and neat, and drive away all enemies and 
strangers. {Enter angel.) Ah, here she is. 
Theresa is your name? {Angel nods.) Theresa, 
do you understand the care of children, wash- 
ing, soaping, drying, putting to bed, feeding, 

137 



i 3 8 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

brushing, watching, scolding, following, pun- 
ishing, pardoning, tying up, untying, airing, 
and housing? {Angel nods.) These children 
are good children. I have some business at the 
King's palace and shall leave them with you. 
Theresa, Theresa, I'm not sure that nuns 
understand children. Have you experience? 
{Angel nods.) Where? But were they your 
own children? That's best. These are my 
own. Are ye not? As much as any can be. 
Now, Theresa, I have a thought. You see 
this horn ? It is a Saracen horn brought by my 
father from Arabia. 

And by a witch 'twas tuned to mine ears 
When I was born. {Sounds the horn.) 
How small a sound it makes. 
And yet that sound is native to my soul: 
Distance and density are nothing to it. 
And were I now in Rome and you in France, 
The tiny stream of sound would thread the Alps, 
And pierce my eardrums where I lay asleep 
With fifty cannons booming over me. 
Blow if some danger threats these flaxen heads; 
But not for slight occasion. 

{Gives horn to angel.) Now, young squires, 
Help arm your master. 

{They get the armor, and the children help put 
it on. He talks as they do so.) 

I have killed twelve kings 
And several hundred giants. I will strike 
Straight for his heart. 

{Enter Simeon, the beggar.) 



WILFRED THE YOUNG 139 

Simeon 
Hist, Sir Knight, a word! 
I have discovered how to reach the dragon. 
A broken wall, a passage underground, 
A hole they have forgotten to stop up. 
Come, and I'll lead you to him. 

Wilfred 

Go your ways — 
You are the dragon's servant like the rest. 
I go to fight the King. When I come back 
With half the fame of Europe in my arms — 

{Knocking.) 
Enter! who is there? 

{Enter Herald.) 
Herald 
The King doth send a squire to hold your horse, 
And begs you'll deign to use the royal car 
Which now with twenty footmen waits for you, 
To take you to the palace. 

Wilfred 

Tell the King 
I'll not accept his hospitality. 
I come to kill him: let him understand 
I seek his palace as an enemy. 
Let him defend himself! 

{Herald bows. Wilfred takes his helmet and 
spear. The angel is standing behind the 
children on one side of the stage, the Herald 
on the other. Wilfred in act to depart.) 
{Curtain.) 



ACT II 

SCENE III. THE PALACE 

{The King, Queen Dis in magnificent array, 
her golden hair in braids, a wreath of roses 
and a wedding veil. Claudias, courtiers, and 
ladies.) 

King 
Are all the knights assembled ? 

Claudias 

At the lists 
They wait your Majesty. The gala day 
Flaunts to the skies its forest of sharp spears 
Which many colored banners interleave. 
Almost the people break the barriers down, 
So keen their passion to enjoy the sport. 

King 
Will not the new knight, think you, show his 

face 
Unvisored to the people and to us, 
Ere on the bloody field he launch himself? 

Claudias 
A churlish temper, matched with gentlest looks, 
Makes him a puzzle. If your Majesties 
Can solve the riddle — 

Queen Dis 

Nay, he comes I hope. 
Else is our visit barrened of its wonder. 

140 



WILFRED THE YOUNG 141 

Servant. {Without.) 
Wilfred of Overseas. 

{Enter Wilfred. Stately bows on all sides, 
which Wilfred returns.) 

Wilfred. {To King.) 
Although I cannot greet thee as a friend, 
King Draco, — for I feel a hostile edge, 
And come to meet it with approved steel, — 
Yet doth this courtesy unman my hate. 
Kill thee I will; but thank thee first of all 
For a most noble lesson in good manners. 

King 
Nay, we ourselves from thee a lesson take 
Of what's behind all manners, noble youth. 
It makes me proud that you enrich our court 
With such example of old chivalry 
As keeps the spirit high above the helm 
And melts not at soft words. Let sound the 

trumpet! 
Wilfred of Overseas doth challenge us ! 

{Trumpet.) 
King 
Sound the acceptance! 

{Trumpet again.) 
Claudias 
Your Majesties, and Wilfred of the Seas, 
It must be known to you that kings enthroned 
Cannot by foreign knights affronted be, 
Except where intervening champions fail. 
The knight must fight your Highness' cham- 
pion 
To gain his right to you. 



142 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

Wilfred 

I'll fight them all: 
One with another let the knights be sent. 
So I have pause to rest, I'll meet them all. 
But be it understood, that as the tenth 
I meet your Highness. 

{A murmur of approval.) 
Queen 
Your'pardon, gentle youth. Wilt please you 

take 
A favor from a friend ? a stranger here, 
Yet one whose heart is moved by your words, 
And by your youth, and for you are alone. 
{Offers him a favor.) 
King 
My cousin, Euphronide, and a princess 
Who doth continue great Antenor's line. 

{Wilfred pauses, kneels, and finally takes it 
with humility.) 

King 
Now to the lists ! 

{Music. All go out in majestic procession. 
The stage is empty for a moment and then 
re-enter, in great agitation, the Queen, who 
sits down, puts her elbows on her knees, and 
runs her fingers through her hair.) 
Queen 
How they wait, — how they wait, — 
No sound forever — it must be some false start! 
No sound — 

{Sound of a bugle.) 

They rush! They meet! 



WILFRED THE YOUNG 143 

{Faint sound of a cheer.) 
Which way? which way? — 

(Starts up.) 

But I must wait — 
If they can but wound him — wound him, not 
kill — 

(Enter a servant, running. The Queen rises 
and accosts him roughly.) 

Queen 

Which is it? 

Servant 
(Amazed at finding her there.) 
A surgeon! a surgeon! 

Huon de Paganis has his death. He cannot 
move! 

(Exit servant.) 

Queen 

Thank God! Not killed, at least! 

Can ye not wound him? A whole pack of 

wolves 
Not wound a sheep dog! 
Ah, this waiting — 

(Bugle sounds faintly, again faint shout.) 
Servant. (Returning.) 
It is no use. 
He'll die before the surgeon can be got! 

Queen. (Roughly to servant.) 
Fetch me the news ! The sight of blood destroys 
me. 

(Follows him across the stage.) 
Fetch me the news ! 



i 4 4 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

(Exit servant. The trumpet is now sounding 
almost continually and the shouting accom- 
panies it in bursts. Re-enter servant. 
Queen almost throttles him.) 

Queen 

Well—? 

Servant 
He does destroy them all as fast as dolls, — 
Rupert and Hilbrand, Gensor, Callias, 
The giant-limbed Orestes, all are slain. 
And Wilfred not yet breathed — 
Voice. (Outside.) 
Hark, a cry! 

(Great shout.) 
Wilfred is down! He's wounded! 

Queen. ( To servant.) 
Let them fetch him here, — 
I am a leech. But keep all surgeons out! 
Let the King know I cure him. 
(Aside.) If he be killed! 
(To servant.) Is he dead? Oh is he dead? 

(She breaks away as four enter bearing Wilfred 
unconscious. The favor is on his shoulder. 
They set him down.) 

Queen 

(Exeunt servants) 
So, leave him — 

Not dead, and hardly wounded, — only weak — 
Stunned and exhausted. 

(She sits down by him.) 
(Very softly.) Wilfred — 



WILFRED THE YOUNG 145 

{Long pause , and again) 
Wilfred — 

(Soft music.) 
Wilfred, I'll whisper here; 
Ah, may I not come near? 
I'll not disturb thy slumbers, Wilfred dear. 

Wilfred of Overseas, a girl does wait 
Where summer roses peep o'er garden gate, 

She that, when thou wast young, 
Thy boyish head with heavy garlands hung, 
And paused to watch thee, where, wild fields 
among, 

Thou'd'st meditate. 

Wilfred, ah Wilfred, look, 

Where leans the willow o'er the talking brook; 

See if one stands within yon shady nook, 

Who knows thy name; 
Follows and fosters, loves and dotes upon thee; 
Turn, gentle youth, a goddess' eyes are on thee. 
Turn, ere some mortal maiden have undone thee 

To lasting shame. 

Love me, my Wilfred, I am only thine, 
That know thy heart and with it intertwine 
The rich-encumbered clustering grapes from 

mine. My Wilfred dear, 
Love me, and we together will unwind 
The spool of life, till at its end we find 
The thoughts that caged us here: 
The thoughts that caged us and the ties that bind 
Are always near. 



146 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

Love is the quest that o'er thy deep endeavor 
Followed and floated upward and forever — 

Love was thy quest. 
The fortress with its banner in the sky, 
Fame, Honor, Fortune, Duty, Destiny — 
The Great Adventure, — pile it ne'er so high,- 

Love, love is best. 

'Tis but the saying of what all do know, 
To say you love me, Love saith always so; 

All else is lies. 
And he is damned for telling of untruth, 
Who in the earnest lustihood of youth 

His love denies. 

I am thy princess, 

Thou art my delight, 
My noble hero and my goodly knight. 
Open thine eyes, she bends above thee — 

My dear, my only friend. 
This is my life's beginning and its end — 

Wilfred, I love thee. 
{Wilfred moves , she recedes a step gently.) 

Queen 

What is it? 

Wilfred. {Sitting up.) 
Where am I? Such a rush of foaming water 
And such a sound of bees. A spinning-wheel 
Runs in my head and turns a lullaby, 
Tunably sweet. {Sees her.) The lady of the 

loom, 
Circe, for fair as Circe you do seem, 



WILFRED THE YOUNG 147 

And your long locks of braided, flaxen hair 
Yellow as autumn, thick as standing wheat, 
And framing all the treasures of the earth, — 
Pomona surely! 

Queen 

Nay, a princess only. 
Wilfred 
Where have I known thee? 

Queen 
All these many years. 
In your heart's chancel, Wilfred, where those 

hymns 
Rise from the pavement towards the roofing 
stars. 

Wilfred 
Have I destroyed the dragon? 

Queen 

Ay, you have. 
People and King proclaim you. Now, they wait 
Till, with the restoration of your health, 
Mine and thy nuptials shall proclaimed be. 

Wilfred 
Why, I am well. Go spread the news abroad. 
Let them come in, the nobles, rabble, all. 
I will announce it: call the Pontifex. 

Queen 
All is prepared, Sir Knight. The King's at hand, 
And all the priestly officers. 

{Enter procession, headed by the Pontifex, as to 
a wedding. The Pontifex takes his stand 
before the couple. King and courtiers follow 
and range themselves.) 



148 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

PONTIFEX 

Euphronide, daughter of Antenor's line — 

Queen 
Here. 

PONTIFEX 

Wilfred of Overseas, the Dragon Slayer — 

Wilfred 
Here. 

Pontifex 
Is it your firm intention to be wed ? 
Kneel and declare. 

{The Pontifex is holding up his cross. The 
Queen kneels.) 

King 
Kneel, kneel, Sir Knight. 

Pontifex 
Kneel and proceed, my son. 
Wilfred 
What is that cross? Why kneel ye? Who 

does kneel? 
There is some implication in the act 
That waves me off. 
{Sound of the magic trumpet. He stares about.) 
What's that? 

Claud ias 

Sure, he is mad. 
This recent loss of blood has made him mad. 

King 

Proceed without the kneeling. 

Pontifex 
Is it your firm intention to be wed ? 



WILFRED THE YOUNG 149 

Wilfred 
(Gazing abstractedly about. Sound of the 
trumpet.) 
Where are the children? 
Where are my children? 
What was done with them? 
Give me my children, traitors, murderers, — 
You've mewed them up! YeVe killed them! 
Give them back! > 

(He turns from one to another, storming, and 
they give way before him.) 
Where are the children that ye robbed me of? 

King 
Madness is on him. Ye had best beware, — 
The eye he rolls sees nothing but in thought. 

A Courtier 
He hath the strength of madness in his arm. 

Wilfred 
What is this painted pack of picture cards 
That wheels about me? Silent and intent, 
Ye stand a-staring. This was once a King, 
Whose color, like his crown, doth come and go. 
This, an old image of a Pontifex, 
Carried in slow procession at some feast. 
A Courtier next, a perfumed mountebank. 

(To Queen Dis.) 
A skeleton that wears a rosy wreath. 

(He extends his arm and with great deliberation 
removes the wreath. The veil and flaxen 
hair come with it. He drops them, and as he 
does so Queen Dis falls at full length. Her 
dragon arm is exposed.) 



ISO NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

Still in a dream ye stand and question me. 
How came I to this madhouse? Empty shells 
Without a heart amongst ye! Let me go! 
My children clutch me, I must go to find them. 
{He stumbles, totters, and clanks to the door, 
nobody daring to stop him, and so exit.) 

Claud ias 
The fight hath dazed him. Quick attend the 
Queen ! * 

{Curtain) 



ACT III 

scene i. — Wilfred's cabin 

{Night. A low table, on which are a plate of 
bread, jug of milk, etc. Also the magic horn. 
A single lighted candle. Thekla has fallen 
asleep in her chair over a picture book. Dio 
is asleep on a pallet by her side. Enter 
Wilfred, battle-worn. He sets down his 
helmet, shield, and sword. As he comes in 
he looks toward the children.) 

Wilfred 
They at least are safe; my brain is ebbed 
And does not float the mind : 
It rubs and touches bottom. I have had 
Shocks that unsettle reason, and I miss 
That certainty towards truth that once I knew. 
All is miasma and a slippery ground: 
I climb an icy mountain and slide back. 
Am I one inch the nearer to my goal ? 
And yet the back and mainspring of my life 
Is broken. Such another day 
And Wilfred passes. 

{Looks toward the children.) 

They at least are safe. 
{With sudden emotion.) 
O for the peace that shines about their heads! 
Why not for me? Why not such peace for me? 

151 



iS2 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

Who see it even in a famished glance, 

As in the desert dying travelers 

See water in their dreams. O children dear, 

Ye are sent to tempt me; for I must go forth 

To find the dragon. Where? I do not know. 

It troubles me I am no longer fit, 

My limbs are twisted, and my heart is hurt. 

But this is nothing; I, at least, can die. 

And in the cataract of human woe, 

What is one life? The offer is the need. 

If this be it, I make it willingly. 

{He looks up and perceives the Angel, who has 
entered and is standing over the children. 
To the Angel, but in a dazed manner.) 
Art thou Theresa, or an angel bright? 

Angel 
Both, Wilfred. 

Wilfred 
How came ye hither? 

Angel 

I am always here, 
Sometimes unseen and sometimes visible. 

Wilfred 
Yet always here. Who art thou, Angel bright? 

Angel 
I am the radiance and the fringe of truth. 

Wilfred 
Give me, good Angel, power to see thee oft. 

Angel 
The power to see me is a part of me. 

Wilfred 
Angel, I am of late grown strangely weak. 



WILFRED THE YOUNG 153 

Angel 
Nay, you are stronger, Wilfred, than before. 

Wilfred 
All of my quest was just a kind of dream. 

Angel 
Wilfred, such dreams as yours are only seen 
When some new age is born. They rise in 

you 
Out of the flooded sorrows of the world, 
Showing a track of light from heart to heart, 
A beaten golden path. This kind of dream 
Begins to glow across King Draco's land, 
And, passing through thee, humbles all thy 

heart, 
Which thou thinkst weakness. All thy quest 

was here, 
And thou art nothing but a prophecy, 
The substance of new light. 

Wilfred 

And shall the dragon 
Die by that light? 

Angel 
He doth. Thy sword shall break. 
But in thy hand a sword of heavenly make, 
Tipped with seraphic fire, shall turn itself 
Against the monster. Rest, good Wilfred, rest. 
(As she says this she makes a pass with a spear. 
He closes his eyes and the Angel exit.) 
Wilfred. (Waking.) 
I thought an angel offered me a spear, 
Saying the time had come. I must have 
slept. 



154 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

Surely some heaven-appointed minister 
Has late been with me, or do these infuse 
The sudden restoration in my soul? 
{Approaches the children.) 
Thekla. {Waking and seeing him.) 
Wilfred! 

{She runs to him.) 
Wilfred 
Hush, do not wake him. 

Thekla 
Where have you been, dear Wilfred ? 

Wilfred 

In the world, 
Fighting and thinking, — 

Thekla 

Oh we thought of you. 
Theresa teaches us to pray for you. 
And once she blew the bugle. 

Wilfred 

When was that? 
Thekla 
She told us you would come. O Dio, Dio, 
Wilfred is come! This is no time to sleep. 
{She wakes up Dio, and the children sit on 
Wilfred's knees.) 

Dio 
We are your thralls. 

Thekla. {To Wilfred.) 
That's what Theresa says. 

Wilfred 
Where is Theresa ? 



WILFRED THE YOUNG 155 

Thekla 
Here, why here, she was. 
She told us you were coming, and just then 
I fell asleep. But, Wilfred, were you ill? 

Wilfred 
Whatever be her goings and her comings, 
She keeps my children well. 

Thekla 

She has a spear 
As bright as starlight, and she holds it up. 
That's all she does. But, Wilfred, supper's 

ready. 
Theresa brought us food and bade us wait 
Till you should come. Wilfred, you must sit here. 
( They sit and eat.) 
Wilfred 
This is a glorious feast. 

Dio 
We are your thralls. 
{A knock at the door.) 
Wilfred 
Who's there? Come in! 

{Enter old Simeon.) 
Simeon 
Sir Knight, Sir Knight! 

Wilfred 

Old Simeon, come in. 
{To children.) This is a happy party, isn't it? 
Wilfred's home-coming, Wilfred's sweet return 
To his small nest and tuneful, — 

Thekla 

Tuneful what? 



156 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

Wilfred 

Humming-birds ! 

{The children laugh. Wilfred points to the 
children's feast.) 
Pray you, partake with us. 

{Makes a place for Simeon.) 

Simeon 

Sir Knight, there is no time for humming-birds. 

The Dragon's on the watch. His day draws 

near. 
Again the lots are shaken in the urn. 
King Draco calls for more. 

Wilfred 
{In the act of drinking, puts down the cup.) 

Of course, old Simeon, 
The fighting must go on, and we must do it. 

Simeon 
Hist! Ye will not trust me: I can tell you 
A way to reach the Dragon. But you're sick — 

Wilfred 
No. Not a bit. Go on. 

Simeon 

A broken wall, — 
I've tried the place a thousand times alone, — 
And I'll go with ye, underneath the ground 
And up again; and while ye tackle him 
I'll summon all the burghers to the wall 
To pull it down. 

Wilfred 
Your burghers will not come; 
But, Simeon, I will. These lambs are safe, 
Nothing shall harm them. I am sure of that. 



WILFRED THE YOUNG 157 

And out of all my comforts this is most — 
That they are safe. 

{To the children.) Bid me goodbye, 
As gladly as I bid ye wait for me. 

Thekla and Dio. {With enthusiasm.) 

Goodbye ! 
Goodbye, dear Wilfred ! goodbye, goodbye, etc. 

Simeon 
We must be gone, Sir Knight. The night wears 
on. 

Wilfred 
Coming, old Simeon? Thekla, you must pray. 
Kneel thus awhile, say nothing, only think. 
For while we think at home our thoughts go 

forth 
And help the fighters. 

{As he says these last lines he causes both chil- 
dren to kneel close together at the front of 
the stage quite near to one side. Their hands 
are clasped before them. They are to remain 
thus throughout the following scene. Wilfred 
and the beggar now go out. Total darkness, 
except that a shimmer of light shows the kneel- 
ing figures of the children. The scene now 
changes to the outside of the Dragon's cave.) 

Simeon. 
{Without, and in the darkness, hoarsely.) 
Stoop low, Sir Knight, the bricks come tum- 
bling down: 
The least disturbance sends them. Mind the 
bones 



158 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

And skull things that will trip ye. Now we're 

free. 
From this on is an even straggly path 
{Enter Simeon and Wilfred.) 
Straight to the cavern. Enter not, Sir Knight, 
But call him out. Your sword is durable, 
And cuts through steel. I saw the Tournament. 
Ye'll not be long to kill him ! Fare ye well. 
I'll run and warn the people. Fare ye well. 

Wilfred 
Fare well, old Simeon. 

This is the only man who speaks the truth; 
The rest are murderers. 

{The light has slowly increased. He looks 

about.) 

Ye rocky walls, 
That sepulcher so many hundred dead, 
How have I dreamed of ye! This sullen hour , 
Before the tingling sun hath touched the crag 
Might chill the heart of manhood. Ah, the 

boys, 
Joyous, rash boys, who from this echoing cave 
Sent forth such martial music to the world! 
Comrades, I claim you : brothers, I am here. 
Ye could not wait for me, but sent your 

voice, 
And I am come to carry on your war. 
Dragon, come forth! 

Another knight doth call: come forth, I say! 
Sleepest thou, Dragon? Forth! Come forth, 

I say! 
Wilfred of Overseas is at the cave! 



WILFRED THE YOUNG 159 

(A clanking is heard, and enter the Dragon.) 
Wilfred 
Die, Monster! 

(He assails the Dragon. The fighting must be 
symbolical on both sides, a blow and a ward, 
the changing of positions, a stroke and return 
stroke, heavy breathing, silence, and many 
desperate throes. At last Wilfred misses his 
stroke, which is so violent that he falls on 
both knees. The Dragon places a paw on 
the top of Wilfred? s shield. They move 
across the stage and back in struggle. Wil- 
fred cannot free the shield. By a gigantic 
effort Wilfred gets into a position of slight 
advantage and deals a terrific downward blow 
on the Dragon's helm. The sword breaks. 
Wilfred falls backward and is caught upon 
a low rock. The Dragon, still gripping the 
top of the shield, places a paw upon the pros- 
trate and helpless Wilfred and peers down 
over the shield into his face?) 
Wilfred 
I hate thee still! 

Dragon 
Wilfred, forgive me! 

Wilfred 
Had I the power to smite, I would destroy thee. 
I can but will thy death. 

(He reaches backward by a gesture as if to avoid 
the Dragon and a spear is put into his hand by 
the Angel, who enters only in time to do this. 
Wilfred takes the spear and very deliberately 



160 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

touches the crest of the Dragon with it. The 
Dragon slowly rears, as if in mortal agony, 
claws the air, totters and falls at full length 
with a prolonged groan. The dragon's hel- 
met comes off and rolls on the ground, while 
the long black hair and blue asphodels of the 
goddess stream out upon the stage. After 
one or two heaves of death, the Dragon col- 
lapses and is still.) 

Wilfred. {Full of awe.) 
Not I have done this, but some power behind. 
What is this spear that turns within my hand, 
And once again points cave-wards? Are ye 

there, 
Spirits of evil? Once again, come forth! 
Ye are reduplicated into beasts, 
That roam and kill and feed upon mankind, 
And some new monster comes. 

{Enter from the cave King Draco.) 
Thou thought'st to save thyself by shielding 

her. 
King Draco! It is well thou comest now; 
For I could find and kill thee, wert thou hid 
Under the ocean, or beyond the moon. 
Perish, base King! 

{Touches Draco with the spear and the King 

slowly sinks without a word and dies beside 

the Dragon.) 
There lie ye both. Alas ! ye are not dead, 
But fled to new disguises . 

{He now turns and sees the Angel standing in 

the back center on a slight eminence, and 



WILFRED THE YOUNG 161 

shielding the two children, who have taken 
their places by the Angel during Wilfred's 
speech to Draco. The people have flocked 
in during the same period. They are led by 
old Simeon and are dressed in medieval 
holiday costume. Wilfred is lost in wonder 
for a moment, giving the populace a chance 
to fall into the tableau.) 

Wilfred 
Angel, thy spear hath killed thine enemies, 
And saved the children of a rightful King. 

{To the people.) 
Kneel to true princes, burghers; ye had all — 
Forget it not — consented to the sin. 
Nor were ye less confederate than these — 

{Pointing to the dead.) 
Who with their deaths have paid their infamy. 
All were participant; and if the spear 
Which touches some to life and some to death 
Have touched the nation, may its inward fire, 
Which saveth now these children, save us too. 
We are responsible: by us they died, 
And in our life they live. 

{To Angel.) Take back thy spear, 
But hold it over us. 

{Angel receives the spear.) 



CHRISTMAS ONCE MORE 
A SACRED CANTATA FOR CHILDREN 



CHRISTMAS ONCE MORE 

Part I; or Prelude. The childhood of a Saint: a drama in one 

act without music 
Part II, Cantata. The Vision of Mary; a Morality with music 

and singing 
Scene. Cologne on the Rhine in about the year 400 a.d. 

CHARACTERS OF THE PRELUDE 

Father Antonius, a holy man 
Fulvia, his ward, aged ten 
Elsa, a friend to Fulvia, aged about ten 
Sigurd, father to Elsa, a German farrier 
Both Elsa and her father are pagans 

CHARACTERS OF THE CANTATA 

An Angel 

The Three Shepherds 
The Three Kings 
Unseen Chorus of Angels 
The Congregation 

SCENE OF THE CANTATA 
The Stable at Bethlehem 



CHRISTMAS ONCE MORE 

PART I 

THE CELL OF ANTONIUS 
FULVIA 

Father Antonius, with Christmas near 
We need to save our scraps. The poor are fed 
All the year round on bits of Christmas cheer. 

Antonius 

Where do you learn such wisdom, Fulvia? 
For in my rustic study you have sat — 
Nor ever known an abler schoolmaster — 
Since your first father died. Yet every day 
Shows gleams of scattered light and sparks of 

fire 
That came not from my lamp. 

Fulvia 

'Tis from the Fathers. When you are not here 

I read these volumes. {Pointing to folios.) 

Antonius. {Aside.) 

O power of Heavenly Grace 
That shines direct upon this little maid ! 

Fulvia 

Tell me what Christmas music we shall have. 
Is it a play, or acted parable? 

165 



166 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

Antonius 
It is a history of Jesus' life, 
Told in a set of pictures and of tunes 
Such as rude piety can understand. 

Fulvia 
Oh, may I see it? 

Antonius 
Nay, I cannot say; 
'Tis not for children. 

Fulvia 

But I have a friend, 
A pagan, unbaptized, impenitent, 
And cold to Christ, a child for whom he died, 
Who may, through such a play, be brought to 

him. 
Father Antonius, 'tis not for me! 
I need no plays nor music; I have you. 
But Elsa, who in seeing might be saved, 
Elsa, my friend, — if you could find a place, 
A nook to hide her at the sacred play, 
From it she might draw Christ. Keep me 

away, 
But find a place for her. 

Antonius 

For both, for both! 
Though I be scolded for't, I'll hide you both. 
Was it not Christ who said, Forbid them not? 
But we are ever bettering Christ's words 
With meanings which refute them. 

Fulvia 

Is not Christ 
Among the heathen, he being everywhere? 



CHRISTMAS ONCE MORE 167 

Antonius 

Deep are thy reasonings, thou saintly child: 
For children's angels are so near to God 
That they themselves exact him everywhere. 
They drain theology without a qualm, 
Drink reason to the dregs and ask for more, 
Splitting the darkest mysteries of faith 
With easy question. Fulvia, my child, 
Thou reasonest well. If Christ be everywhere, 
He lives as certain in the heathen breast 
As in the elect. The Church but draws him 

out, 
Finds and proclaims him — first by baptism, 
A rite through Christ's example sanctified — 

Fulvia 
Who is the Church? 

Antonius 

Too fast, my Fulvia ! 
Can I not answer one thing at a time? 
But I must sweat and wheeze to satisfy 
Your over-nimble wit? My Fulvia, 
Have I not sworn to teach you all I know, 
And did I not on your first father's death 
Adopt you as my heir? My holiest vow 
Makes all my wisdom thine. But give me 

breath 
At least for prayer, which draws the meaning 

down 
On all our questions. Fulvia, my child, 
Leave me a while: I promise to declare 
All that I understand, another time. 



168 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

FULVIA 

Nay, Father Antony: an easy thing 

I wish to know, and you must tell me now. 

Antonius. {Aside.) 
Alas ! My home-drawn wisdom is inapt 
To feed an infant saint: and but that God 
Compels me by my vow to be her nurse, — 
Having revealed by many potent signs 
That in this child he hides a minister 
And flaming witness to his holy Church, — 
I should remand her to her peasant home, 
Relieved to lose her. 

{To Fulvia.) Fulvia, my pet, 
I will content you. But be patient with me. 
I am not, as you think, a learned man, 
And many points are doubtful at the best, 
And deeper theologians than myself 
Have stumbled in them. Only my poor 

thoughts ' 

Are good enough for me to wall my cell 
With pictures of God's heaven and thoughts of 

him. 

Fulvia 
You are my dearest father, friend and angel. 

Antonius 
Remember, I but tell you what I think; 
You must seek further. 

Fulvia 

Good. 

Antonius. {With apprehension.) 

But wait a bit! 
It's not the mystery of the Trinity ? 



CHRISTMAS ONCE MORE 169 

FULVIA 

No. 

Antonius 
Nor the necessity for Adam's fall? 

FULVIA 

No, Father Antony. 

Antonius 
The meaning of "proceedeth" in the creed? 

Fulvia 

No, nothing of the sort. I wish to know 

If one who is not priest or holy man, 

Or monk, or something sacred in the church, 

May yet baptize an infant. For, you say, 

If baptism, which is a sacrament, 

May not in cases of extremity — 

In cases of extremity — you said — 

Antonius 
Correct. In cases of extremity — 
Ah, I remember. Yes of course he may. 
Any good Christian may baptize a child. 
And in the early days the same applied 
To those, being penitent, of riper years. 
For as the Church in all her members lives, 
So each of us, for several purposes, 
Is the whole Church. 

Fulvia 
Thanks, dear and good papa. 
That's all I want to know. 

(Kisses him and exit into the house.) 
Antonius 

'Tis strange, the young 



170 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

Must ever break their teeth against abstrac- 
tions ; 
While we, whose teeth are gone, live but by 

faith. 
This youngster has the theory of the Church 
As pat as Paul. 

(Knocking without.) 
What's that? Whoe'er ye be, 
There's nothing here to warrant violence. 

(More knocking.) 
Lift, lift the latch, ye madman. Wait a bit; 
You've locked it with your haste. 

(Opens the door. Enter Sigurd.) 
Sigurd 
Give me my daughter! Give me back my child, 
You wicked sorcerer! You have her here, 
And with your spells have changed her to a beast. 
(Antonius holds up a crucifix. Sigurd falls 
back and cringes.) 
Mercy, 'mercy ! It is on me now, 
Horrible weakness and the sweat of death. 
I feel it coming! The dark Weirds of Eld 
Wave at me through his eyes. Have mercy, 

Father! 
Take all this gold, but give my baby back. 
(Produces gold bracelets and jewelry, which he 
puts on the ground.) 

Antonius 
(Puts down the crucifix.) 
There is no child, except my Fulvia, 
That lives within this cell. Thou foolish man, 
Put up thy gold : I have not hid thy child. 



CHRISTMAS ONCE MORE 171 

Sigurd 
Her very footprints have I followed here, 
And every German finger pointed here. 

Antonius 
Wait, you shall see yourself. 
Fulvia! my little girl ! (Calls.) 
(Enter Fulvia.) 
Is this the child? My Fulvia, this man 
Has lost his little girl — 

(Fulvia holds up the tiny crucifix that hangs at 
her girdle, and Sigurd falls to the ground 
and wallows.) 

Sigurd 
Turn it away from me! Oh you are kind, 
Old man. The w r hite witch bites the worst. 
Turn off the stream! 

Fulvia 
Who is this wolfish man, good god-papa? 

Antonius. (To Sigurd.) 
Is this your child, fond madman? Is it she? 

Sigurd 
I cannot tell : my eyes are blind with light. 

Antonius. (To Fulvia.) 
Put down the cross and offer him your hand. 
(As Fulvia offers her hand Sigurd shrinks and 
retreats, examining her intently.) 

Sigurd 
I think that it is she, but in a trance. 

(Aside.) 
If I could touch her with my mother's salve 
I'd turn her back into herself again. 



172 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

(He puts something on his hand from a box. 
He now holds out his hand, and Fulvia 
shrinks and retires before him, still holding 
out her hand. Finally, as he touches her, 
she screams "Jesu, Jesu," holds up the cru- 
cifix, and falls to the ground in a swoon.) 
Antonius 
Keep off, devils ! Off, I say. 

(Strikes Sigurd. To Fulvia.) 
My child, my child, what ails thee? 

(To Sigurd.) Pagan dog, 
What hast thou done to her? 

(To Fulvia.) My pretty child, 
Speak to Antonius, speak to old papa. 

Fulvia. (Half conscious.) 
I see a crown, Antonius! (Waking.) 

O Father Antony! 
I saw a crown. 

Antonius 
It was, — it is, — the crown of martyrdom 
Predicted at your birth, my Fulvia; 
And which from time to time above your head 
Glows visibly. It is not to be feared. 

Fulvia 
Where is the savage man? 

Antonius. (To Sigurd.) 

Get up, you dog! 
Your brutish superstition has prevailed 
To frighten a sweet child. 

Sigurd (Aside.) 

She said a wolf. 
Pm changing to a wolf; my nails are claws 



CHRISTMAS ONCE MORE 173 

And fur is on my head. I can't get up! 
I can't get up! 

{Snarls like a wolf and cries, "I canH get up, 
I carft get up") 

Antonius. {Kicking him.) 
Get up, you pagan brute, and lick the feet 
That seraphs shall adore in Paradise. 

Fulvia 
Father, a word. Leave me alone with him. 
Believe me, I am guarded. Go away: 
I can restore him both to life and hope, 
And get him back the child. 

Antonius 
What if the fiend in him should bark at grace? 

Fulvia 

{Pointing to the door.) 

A coward, Father? Have I not my cross? 

{Exit Antonius.) 

{Arranges her hair and then to Sigurd.) 

Stand up! 

{He does so, trembling in every limb.) 
So you are Elsa's father! Do you love her, 
And follow her, and love and follow her 
Across the world? 

{Sigurd makes a gesture of assent.) 
You pagans love your children? 

{Sigurd, as before.) 
Sigurd the farrier, my Elsa's father, — 
{She suddenly perceives the gold.) 
What is all this gold ? 

Sigurd 

Ransom. 



i 7 4 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

FULVIA 

Ransom? From Christ you cannot ransom 
her. 

Sigurd 
It is the tribal wealth of all my house. 

Fulvia 
Take it again: no gold can ransom her. 
Take it again, good Sigurd, souls by souls 
Alone are ransomed; you must bring your 

soul, 
Aye and the souls of all your family, 
Ere God will take a ransom for your child. 

Sigurd 
How can I catch the souls to bring them here? 

Fulvia 
O Sigurd! Come yourself and they will follow. 

Sigurd 
How do I know your power to find the child? 

Fulvia 
{Pushes door open, and in an inner chamber 
shows Elsa asleep on a couch.) 
Hush, do not wake her, or we all lose all. 
She is half lost to you, half found to us, 
And both of us may lose her if she wake. 
Hush, she is dreaming of her newer life 
And sees her father's house across a gulf, 
Stretching her arms to draw you after her. 
Hush, or we wake her. 

{Closes the door.) 

You must cross the gulf. 

Sigurd 
Elsa, my Elsa! 



CHRISTMAS ONCE MORE 175 

{He would leap forward, but she holds up the 
cross and he gives way.) 

I must cross a gulf? 

Fulvia 
Tomorrow is our feast and holiday, 
Christmas, the Christian Christmas. On that 

day 
We hold a service in the open air, 
Making a theater of pine-tree boughs, 
And act or sing some pages from his life 
By whom we live. O Sigurd, on that day, 
A child led all mankind across a gulf; 
And all our souls went flocking after him. 
Yours, and your Elsa's and your family's, 
They beckon you to come. Upon that day 
The troubled shadows flee before his light 
And leave the heavenly legions visible; 
And you, who saw your Elsa's sleeping shadow, 
Shall see her shining soul upon that day. 

Sigurd 
What shall I do? 

Fulvia 

Do nothing, only wait. 
Not what we do, but what is done to us 
Makes Christians of us. 

Sigurd 

Is my Elsa safe? 

Fulvia 
As safe as any lamb within the fold. 
Sigurd, to-morrow morning seek this cell 
Before the east is flecked with cloudy light, 
And wait Antonius' greeting. You will find 



176 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

A busy, glad, united company, 
Bustling to service. Fear us not, good man, 
Your friends have friends among us. Will you 
come ? 

Sigurd 
Truly, sweet princess. 

Fulvia 

Witch, you said. 
Sigurd 

Oh pardon. 
Truly, most noble princess, I will come. 
(Kisses her hand and exit.) 
Fulvia 
This is no wolf, 

But a good sheep dog, something shaggy yet, 
But kind within; and being disciplined 
Will leap and bark about the flock of God, 
Or lead them like a deacon to the field, 
Play father to the white and woolly lambs 
Born in the faith, and teach them seriously, 
As if he were an ancestor of Christ. 
God made these Germans fitter to receive 
Than we of Rome to give the sacraments. 
(Calls.) Elsa! My Elsa! 

(Enter Elsa.) 
Elsa 
I dreamed I heard my father calling me. 

Fulvia 
Perhaps he did. 

Elsa 
But you will keep him out, you will save me 
and snatch me from the burning? You said 



CHRISTMAS ONCE MORE 177 

you would. Will you baptize me now, Fulvia? 
Oh, I want to feel the magic water changing me 
all inside, and making me into a bird. Papa 
told me that my aunt was changed into a 
kingfisher by an old Christian witch who 
lives on nothing but acorns and washes herself 
with sand. When I'm changed, I'll go to visit 
her and every Sunday I'll bring you news of 
the spirits. 

Fulvia. {Holds up the cross.) 

Elsa! Silence! 
Elsa 
{Instead of being afraid of the cross ^ examines 
it with raptured) 
Shall I have one like this ? 

Fulvia 
Benighted child, until thou do repent 
Thou canst not be baptized. A baby may, 
Because a baby — But thou art a person of 
riper years. 

Elsa. {Bursts into tears.) 
Wow, wow, wow! You Christians cheat! 
I'll never play with you again. My father 
told me not to play with you. Let me go 
home ! Let me go home ! They all told me 
you were bad. You nasty old thing. 

Fulvia 
Elsa, dear Elsa, listen. 

Elsa 

Yes, you cheat. 
Fulvia 
Listen, the Hermit Antony, — 



178 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

Elsa 

Yes, you cheat. 

FULVIA 

It all is in these words, " being penitent," 

Elsa. {Snuffling.) 
Yes, — well, — 

Fulvia 
Being penitent, — you then may be baptized. 

Elsa 
Fulvia, is that all? I'm penitent. 
See if I'm not. Come feel me, Fulvia. 
I'm penitent all over. Old papa 
Antonius will surely let me in — 

( The sound of singing or of a few solemn chords 
is heard.) 
What's that? 

Fulvia 
It is the Angel Chorus practising 
For Christmas service. Elsa, you are coming; 
And, Sigurd, your papa is coming too. 



PART II 

THE CANTATA 

(The scene which is to follow represents the play 
as given in Cologne in A.D. 400, not only as 
to the stage ^ but as to the audience. 

The audience in the theater or hall now repre- 
sents the assembly of early Christians who 
witness the play. As the cantata is not 
merely a play, but is, in a sense, a service, 
the audience will from time to time sing 
hymns, which form a part of the cantata. 
The first two or three rows of audience are 
made up of ten or twenty children, in the 
costume of the fourth century. These children 
file in before the curtain goes up and fill the 
seats, which have been vacant during Part I. 
Among them are seen all the characters in 
Part I. They lead in the singing of such 
hymns as are herein marked "By the Con- 
gregation." The general audience is ex- 
pected to sing also. The words of the hymns 
are found on printed leaflets to be distributed. 
The curtain rises and discloses the scene, 
before the Stable at Bethlehem. 

The stage is decorated with pines and ever- 
greens. There should be no attempt at 
scenery nor any change of scene except as 
indicated below. On the left side of the 

179 



180 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

stage, about halfway back, is a wooden frame- 
work, to indicate, rather than represent, the 
stable. Within it sits Mary holding the 
infant Jesus in her arms. The group must 
be as little as possible obscured by the frame. 
Either within the stable behind Mary, or on 
the roof, there is a stand for the Angel, who 
soon appears. The Angel is supposed to be 
standing on the roof, and is unseen by Mary. 
Mary remains throughout the cantata in an 
almost unconscious state of contemplation. 
The three shepherds are asleep on the ground.) 

instrumental prelude 

By the Congregation 

Jesu, Jesu in the skies, 
Now thy sacred play begin; 
Through the windows of our eyes 
Shine upon our hearts within. 

Since thy days upon the earth, 
Ah, how many years have flown: 
All are dead who saw thy birth, 
All to whom thy face was known. 

Yet thy birthday do we keep, 
Trusting thou wilt soon appear; 
Ah, delay not, for the sheep 
Long to have the shepherd near. 

Jesu, Jesu in the skies, 
Now thy sacred play begin; 
Through the windows of our eyes 
Shine upon our hearts within. 



CHRISTMAS ONCE MORE 181 

{The three shepherds rise, look about, and then 
sing.) 

The Shepherds 

We were seated on the ground, 
Half asleep, when we awoke. 
All at once it shined around, 
From the clouds the glory broke. 

And the angel voices sang 
Sweeter than the Psalmist's songs; 
Gloriously their voices rang, 
" Glory, God, to thee belongs.'' 

Hark! again their voices ring! 
Hark! again I hear them sing! 

Chorus of Angels. {Unseen.) 
Glory, Glory, Glory 
Be to God on high; 
And to earth again 
Peace and good-will to men. 

Amen, amen. 

The Shepherds 
Faded are the voices clear; 
We are sunk once more in night, 
Unless an angel shall appear 
And lead us by his light. 

Angel 

{An angel has appeared on the roof of the stable. 
The angel does not sing, but speaks, being 
accompanied by instrumental music, except 
as otherwise noted.) 

Fear not: for behold, I bring you good 



i82 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. 
For unto you is born this day in the City of 
David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 

By the Congregation 
Haste ye shepherds of the plain, 
Haste to where your Lord is lain. 
In a manger ye shall find him, 
And in swaddling clothes they bind him. 
Haste, good shepherds, haste again. 

Chorus of Angels. {Unseen.) 
Glory, Glory, Glory 
Be to God on high; 
And on earth again 
Peace and good-will to men. 

Amen, amen. 
{Enter the three kings bearing their gifts.) 

Angel 
Wise men, wise men, marvel not: 
Here your star has come to rest. 
Seek within this humble cot 
For the Saviour of the West. 

By the Congregation 
Haste, good kings, to tell your story, 
Kneeling down before the glory. 
Gaspar, Melchior, Balthazar, 
Open each your golden treasure 
Lest the shepherds run before ye. 

The Three Kings 
Be thou angel, be thou star, 
Flaming beacon of the sky, 



CHRISTMAS ONCE MORE 183 

We do follow from afar; 

Where thou leadest we must hie. 

We beheld the starlike thing, — 
Old we were and wise we were, — 
To the new-born king we bring 
Gold and frankincense and myrrh. 

Hark! What voices from on high 
Warn us that the Lord is nigh. 

Chorus of Angels 
Glory, Glory, Glory 
Be to God on high; 
And on earth again 
Peace and good-will to men. 

Amen, amen. 

First Shepherd 
(Speaking, not singing, and without musical 
accompaniment. To the kings.) 
But wherefore myrrh, but wherefore bring ye 
myrrh ? 

First King. (Ditto.) 
It is a perfume and a holy drug, 
Fit for the toilet of an infant king; 
And haply ye shall use it once again. 

First Shepherd. (Ditto.) 
What other use, O wise men? Say what use. 

First King. (Ditto.) 
When ye anoint his body for the tomb. 

Angel 
Silly shepherds, ask no more: 
More ye have no need to know. 



1 84 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

Kneel but a while before this door, 

And on your way rejoicing go. 

This is your feast. 

But you, ye wise men of the East, 

With you it is not so; 

For ye are old and wise, and ye are sad and 

slow, 
And ye have followed from exceeding far, 

Obedient to the star, 
And left your lives and left your age behind. 
Myrrh have ye brought his sacred limbs to 

bind, 
The bitter myrrh that purges the sad mind, 

And makes the tears to flow. 
Then men, old men, rejoicing as ye go, 
Mingle your myrrh with incense, yea, and gold, 
And with the tears that ye may not withhold, 

Knowing the things ye know. 
It is a precious offering that ye bring 
To this the infant king. 
Kneel all of you below, 
And sing your hymn. 

{The Shepherds and Kings kneel, forming a 
symmetrical group before the Virgin.) 

Chorale Doxology 

{In which the Chorus of Angels, Kings, Shep- 
herds, and Congregation join; with instru- 
ments', or organ.) 
O God, from whom proceedeth light, 

Thy doings we adore. 
The angels move within thy sight, 

And bow thy works before. 



CHRISTMAS ONCE MORE 185 

Above this baby's head arrayed 

Is all the heavenly host. 
Praise to the Father, to the Son, 
And to the Holy Ghost. 

Amen. 
Angel. (Music.) 
Hark! melodious magic falls 
From the gates of heaven's halls. 
O'er the mother float the charms, 
O'er the baby in her arms. 
Lo, she sleeps, the Virgin mild 
Is safely sleeping like the child. 
From her eyes the shepherds fade, 
And the kings pass far away; 
All things have become a shade, 
All things the same fate obey, — 
Melt and merge and pass away. 
(The lights have been gradually turned down.) 
And behold, a newer seeming, 
Through the dusk a kind of gleaming; 
In the shadow of the rafter, 
Stand new images of light; 
Pictures of a deep hereafter 
Gild the drowsy taper's light. 
And the mother's eyes behold 
All the baby's life to come, 
From the cradle to the tomb. 
But the meaning is not told, 
Though the pictures are unrolled; 
She the meaning must not know; 
Only dimly like a show 
One by one the pictures go. 



i86 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

{The lights have been turned up gradually. 
The shepherds and kings have vanished and 
instead of them are shown John the Baptist 
and one or two of his followers. The scenes 
of the vision which follow should be stiffly 
and not dramatically handled. They should 
suggest the early mosaics. John is in the 
act of baptizing.) 

By the Congregation 

Open now our ears to hear, 
For the angel trumpet bloweth; 
Let our eyes be wide and clear, 
For the light of heaven gloweth. 

In repentance and in ruth 
Let our sins be washed away; 
In the waters of his truth, 
Be we rebaptized to-day. 

Angel 
The voice of one crying in the wilderness, 
Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths 
straight. * * * Thou shalt baptize with 
water, but there cometh one after thee who 
shall baptize with the Holy Ghost and with 
fire. * * * 

{These stars denote instrumental music, which 
should occasionally prefigure the words and 
images to come.) 
Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away 
the sins of the world. 

{The angel points with a rod or golden arrow. 
John's disciples do not see the angel, but they 



CHRISTMAS ONCE MORE 187 

turn mechanically and look in the direction 
indicated. John is obscured for a moment 
and steps off the stage at the back.) 

Chorus of Angels. {Unseen.) 
Hosanna! Hosanna! 
{A brilliant chorus to last about one minute.) 

Angel 
Bring forth the blind people that have eyes 
and the deaf that have ears. To open the blind 
eyes and bring out the prisoners from the prison, 
and them that sat in darkness out of the prison 
house. * * * Bring forth my witnesses saith 
the Lord. * * * 

{Enter one bearing a crutch.) 
Arise, take up thy bed and walk. * * * 

{Enter another.) 
I will; be thou clean. * * * 
{Enter a third.) 
Thy sins be forgiven thee. * * * Lazarus, 
come forth! 

{Enter Lazarus bound in grave clothes.) 

* * * Daughter of Jairus, arise and walk. 

{Enter daughter of Jairus.) 
Thou son of the widow of Nain. — thou son 
of the nobleman of Capernaum. 
{Enter these two.) 

* * * Mary Magdalene, out of whom were 
cast seven devils. 

{Enter Mary Magdalene and others. The 
healed and redeemed people stand in a 
motionless group or tableau.) 



188 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

By the Congregation 
Crippled Christian, drop thy crutch, 
And thy soul and flesh shall live. 
Christ hath saved thee with his touch; 
Christ doth every sin forgive. 

Ye have sought him in the press : 
Virtue flowed your fingers through* 
Crippled Christian, rise and bless; 
Ye are saved, if ye but knew. 

Chorus of Angels 
Who be ye that walk erect? 

By the Congregation 

Halleluja! 
Chorus of Angels 
Be ye Christ's and God's elect? 

By the Congregation 

Halleluja! 

Chorus of Angels 

Or sinners, lost, discarded, wrecked? 

By the Congregation 

Halleluja! 

Chorus of Angels: Ye], - , 

T3 ^ TT7 \ be those on whom 

By the Congregation: We 



descended 
Faith; by faith our ills are ended, 
Found, forgiven, changed, and mended. 

Halleluja! 
Chorus of Angels 
Where be now your sorrows flown? 
By the Congregation 

Halleluja! 



CHRISTMAS ONCE MORE 189 

Chorus of Angels 
Thought of anguish, sound of groan? 

By the Congregation 

Halleluja! 
Chorus of Angels 
The heart of God doth take its own. 

By the Congregation 

Halleluja! 

Chorus of Angels: Ye], - , 

•o ^ x T T \ be those on whom 

By the Congregation: We J 

descended 

Faith; by faith our ills are ended, 

Found, forgiven, changed, and mended. 

Halleluja! 

(Enter many small children, some of them 

bearing others still smaller in their arms, and 

group themselves in front of the redeemed.) 

Angel 
(To accompany entrance of the children.) 
Except ye be converted and become as little 
children ye cannot enter into the Kingdom of 
Heaven. * * * For in heaven their Angels do 
always behold the face of my father which is in 
heaven. 

By the Congregation 
Ye on whom his hands were laid, 
Little children, cluster here. 
" Suffer them to come," he said. 
Little children, come ye here. 

Wisely had your mothers guessed, 
(Fear not what disciples say) 



i 9 o NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

When they laid you on his breast; 
Ye shall not be kept away. 
(The instruments play a new chord.) 
Angel 
Hark, the heavenly family 
Chanting words that shall not die. 
Hark again! 

Chorus of Angels 
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall 
see God. 

Angel 
Hark, hark again! 

Chorus of Angels 
Come unto me all ye that suffer and are 
heavy laden and I will give you rest. 

Angel 
Hark, nay hark! 

Chorus of Angels 
Love your enemies. 

Angel 
Hark! 

Chorus of Angels 
Resist not evil; but overcome evil with good. 

Angel 
Hark! 

Chorus of Angels 
I am the Good Shepherd that giveth his life 
for the sheep. 

Angel 
Harken yet, ye faithful. 

Chorus of Angels 
Thy faith hath saved thee. Go in peace. 



CHRISTMAS ONCE MORE 191 

{The last words, "Go in peace ■, " are continued 
decrescendo while the redeemed disperse. 
The stage is empty and the Angel continues. 
The transition to the next episode, whether 
by a full close or by modulation, must be left 
to the musician. The following tableaux 
should be hardly divided by pauses, but 
should form a continuously moving show, 
accompanied by the AngeVs words and by 
music.) 

Angel 
Ye know that after two days is the feast of 
the Passover and the Son of Man is betrayed 
to be crucified. * * * 

Then assembled together the Chief Priests 
and Scribes and the elders of the people and 
consulted that they might kill him. 

{Enter two or three chief priests and scribes in 

consultation?) 
Then one of the twelve called Judas Iscariot 
went unto the chief priests. 

{Enter Judas.) 
And they covenanted with him for thirty 
pieces of silver. 

{The money is paid over to Judas?) 
And from that time he sought opportunity 
to betray him. 

{Exeunt priests and Judas?) 
Pilate saith unto them 

{Enter Pilate.) 
What shall I do with Jesus which is called 
Christ? 



192 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

They all say unto him, Let him be cruci- 
fied. * * * 

Pilate took water and washed his hands 
before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of 
the blood of this just person. See ye to it. 

{A basin has been brought in and Pilate washes 
his hands.) 

And they stripped him 

{Enter servants bearing scarlet robe, crown of 
thorns , reed, and rods.) 

and put on him a scarlet robe; and when they 
had platted a crown of thorns, they put it on 
his head, and a reed in his right hand. * * * 
And as they came out they found a man of 
Cyrene, Simon by name; 

{Enter Simon bearing the cross with the inscrip- 
tion upon it.) 

and him they compelled to bear the cross. * * * 
And they parted his garments, casting lots. 

{Enter soldiers, one with a bloody spear, one 
with a reed on which is a sponge, others with 
articles of apparel, sandals, girdle, shirt 
without seam. For some moments the light 
has been failing; the darkness is all but 
absolute.) 

Chorus of Angels 

I came forth from the Father, and am come 
into the world : Again, I leave the world, and go 
to the Father. 

Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, 
that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, 



CHRISTMAS ONCE MORE 193 

and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not 
alone, because the Father is with me. 

These things I have spoken unto you, that 
in me ye might have peace. In the world ye 
shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; 
I have overcome the world. 

(The music fails; dead silence.) A very small 
light shows Joseph of Arimathea bearing 
grave clothes. He is dressed, as in Michael 
Angelo's sculpture, in a pointed hood which 
is tied under his chin, and wears a cloak. 
He stoops very low.) 

Angel. (Music again.) 
When the even was come there came a rich 
man of Arimathea, named Joseph, who also 
himself was Jesus' disciple. 

And when Joseph had taken the body, he 
wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in 
his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in 
the rock. 

(Exit Joseph.) 
By the Congregation 
Weep your Saviour's loss, 
Him that none might save. 
They have nailed him to the cross, 
And borne him to the grave. 

Weep ye: weep ye. 

Ye must wash his feet, 

And enwrap with care 

His youthful flesh with spices sweet, 

And for the grave prepare. 

Weep ye: weep ye. 



i 9 4 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

(More light. Enter Mary the mother of Jesus 
and Mary Magdalene.) 

Angel 
Fear not ye; ye seek Jesus which was cruci- 
fied. He is not here, for he is risen. See the 
place where the Lord lay. 

(A great light, or flash of light, shows the empty 
tomb. Then darkness.) 

Angel 

Shadowy, picture things adieu, — 
Bringing glory, bringing pain, — 
We have seen and thought of you 
Ye be mighty, ye be true, 
And if ye fade it is to shine again — 
Yes, to illumine us whose lives are new 
And who but understand as babies do, 
Or flowers refreshed by rain. 

(The light has been dawning.) 
For the Christmas morn is gleaming, 
And the mother with her child 
Wakes to greet the shepherds mild. 
She who slept and has been dreaming, 
Dreaming all these moments through, 
Wakes to hear the shepherds singing 
And to find the wise men bringing 
Precious gifts, as wise men do. 
Just a moment did she sleep; 
Now she wakes and finds them near, 
Gently wakes and smiles to hear 
The piping shepherds and the tinkling 
sheep. 



CHRISTMAS ONCE MORE 195 

(Light again. The shepherds and wise men are 
found in somewhat the same positions as at 
the first discovery.) 

Shepherds. (Sing.) 
We were seated on the ground 
Half asleep when we awoke. 
All at once it shined around, 
From the clouds the glory broke. 

And the angel voices sang, 
Sweeter than the Psalmist's songs, 
Gloriously their voices rang, — 
" Glory, God, to thee belongs." 

Hark! again their voices ring! 
Hark! again I hear them sing! 

Chorus of Angels 
Glory, Glory, Glory 
Be to God on high; 
And on earth again 
Peace and good-will to men. 

Amen, amen. 
(Sigurd and Elsa have found their way to the 
stage and are now seen kneeling among the 
shepherds and kings.) 

Chorale 

(In which the Chorus of Angels, the Shepherds, 
the Kings, and the Congregation all join.) 
O God from whom proceedeth light, 
Thy doings we adore. 
The angels move within thy sight 



196 NEPTUNE'S ISLE 

And bow thy works before. 
Above this baby's head arrayed 
Is all the Heavenly Host. 
Praise to the Father, to the Son 
And to the Holy Ghost. 

Amen, 



THE END 



BOOKS BY JOHN JAY CHAPMAN 

Emerson and Other Essays . . $1.25 

Causes and Consequences . . . $1.25 

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Four Plays for Children . . net $1.00 

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A Sausage from Bologna, A Play, net $ .75 

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